THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

ELI  SOBEL 


THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR 
BALLAD 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  DANISH  OF 
JOHANNES  C.  H.  R.  STEENSTRUP 


BY 


EDWARD  GODFREY  COX 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK  •  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,  1914,  BY  EDWARD  GODFREY  COX 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Cfat  fltbtnatum  j>rt« 

GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


rr 

773^ 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE 

Aside  from  the  admirable  books  of  Professor  F.  B. 
Gummere  on  the  ballad,  I  know  of  no  other  work  whose 
covers  include  such  a  comprehensive  and  fundamental  ex- 
position of  the  ballad,  its  origin,  nature,  subject  matter, 
form,  and  age,  as  does  the  one  which  appears  here  in 
translation.  Its  peculiar  claim  to  be  placed  before  English 
students,  that  which  distinguishes  it  from  other  works  on 
the  subject,  is  its  purpose  of  making  us  see  what  the  bal- 
lad of  the  Middle  Ages  was  really  like.  In  other  words, 
using  Grundtvig's  mammoth  collection  of  Danish  ballads 
as  illustrations,  it  sifts  out,  chips  away,  rubs  off  all  impu- 
rities, in  the  shape  of  diction,  metrical  items,  and  ideas 
which  had  no  legitimate  claim  to  existence  before  the  six- 
teenth century.  In  the  residue  thus  purged  and  restored  we 
have  the  genuine  unalloyed  ballad  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  another  respect  also  this  book  merits  consideration. 
While  Professor  Steenstrup's  studies  lay  bare  the  make-up 
of  the  ballad  as  a  universal  form  of  literature,  by  the  very 
fact  that  he  uses  largely  the  ballads  of  Denmark  for  illustra- 
tive material  he  enriches  for  English  readers  the  study  of 
the  subject,  in  that  they  herein  make  the  acquaintance  of  a 
ballad  literature  which,  in  importance  and  bulk,  surpasses 
that  of  all  other  European  nations.  Then,  too,  the  circum- 
stance that  the  ballads  constitute  the  only  vernacular  litera- 
ture of  early  Denmark  makes  them  of  peculiar  interest  in 
a  comparative  study  of  literature. 


iv  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

The  extracts  from  the  ballads  themselves  I  have  en- 
deavored to  turn  into  suitable  ballad  measure  with  as  close 
an  adherence  to  literalness  as  possible.  In  many  cases  the 
baldness  of  the  English  rendering  may  be  excused  on  the 
score  that  the  original  verse  is  equally  bald.  Naturally 
genuine  ballad  flavor  could  best  be  imparted  to  the  trans- 
lations by  the  employment  of  the  Scotch  dialect ;  but  for 
one  not  to  the  manner  born  such  a  venture  is  hazardous. 
Where  ballad  stanzas  are  cited  as  bearing  on  questions  of 
meter  and  diction  I  have  given  the  original  also.  The 
numbers  following  the  title  refer,  except  when  otherwise 
indicated,  to  Grundtvig's  collection. 

In  conclusion  I  record  with  pleasure  my  obligation  to 
Mr.  Haldor  Hermansson,  the  librarian  of  the  Icelandic  col- 
lection at  Cornell  University,  for  generous  help  in  looking 
up  references  and  in  explaining  passages. 

EDWARD  GODFREY  COX 
SEATTLE,  WASHINGTON 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

In  the  winter  of  1886-1887  I  gave  a  series  of  lectures  in 
the  University  on  our  popular  ballads,  in  which,  in  addi- 
tion to  elucidating  the  cultural  life  manifested  in  them,  I 
set  myself  to  the  task  of  pointing  out  what  was  peculiar  to 
our  ballads  with  respect  to  their  form  and  their  content. 
By  this  I  thought  to  arrive  at  a  sharper  definition  between 
those  ballads  and  verses  which  were  old  and  genuine  and 
those  which  at  a  later  date  had  come  into  being  or  had 
found  their  way  into  Denmark  or  else  had  assumed  a 
wholly  modern  form. 

It  is  this  portion  of  the  lectures  that  I  am  bringing  out 
here.  Our  scholars  and,  after  them,  our  poets,  who  have 
had  daily  recourse  to  this  ever-flowing  spring,  have  not, 
so  it  seems  to  me,  rightly  understood  the  style  of  the  old 
ballads,  which  in  simplicity  and  naturalness  are  still  un- 
surpassed. Since  we  otherwise  lay  such  great  stress  on 
finding  the  proper  time  coloring,  why  should  we  then  con- 
found the  songs  that  were  sung  on  gentlemen's  estates  in 
the  period  of  the  Reformation  with  those  that  were  current 
in  the  feudal  castles  of  the  Middle  Ages  ?  Why  should 
we  be  content  to  look  at  a  blank  white  wall,  when  it  is 
possible,  by  knocking  off  the  plaster,  to  discover  lifelike 
pictures  painted  beneath  the  lime  ?  Now  in  this  work  I 
have  attempted  in  various  ways  to  separate  the  new  from 
the  old,  the  chance  additions  from  the  original,  the  slips 
of  memory  from  the  poet's  own  production.  And  here  it 


vi  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

is  not  a  question  of  demolishing  but  only  of  removing  the 
ugly  so  that  the  genuine  and  true  coloring  can  emerge  into 
view.  Thus,  I  believe,  those  features  which  are  individual 
and  unique  can  more  fully  assert  themselves. 

In  my  studies  I  have  used  not  only  the  ballads  that  have 
been  published  but  also  the  entire  great  collection  of  bal- 
lads which  Grundtvig  left  behind  him,  and  which  one  can 
now  find  in  the  Royal  Library. 

I  have  sought  to  make  the  presentation  of  the  material 
readable  and  intelligible  to  all,  and  to  this  end  I  have 
added  throughout  whatever  explanation  of  words  was  need- 
ful. Since  the  interpretation  did  not  require  the  old  spelling 
found  in  the  manuscripts,  I  have  modernized  the  language 

of  the  ballads. 

JOHANNES  STEENSTRUP 

COPENHAGEN,  1891 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCTION i 

II.  THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD 9 

I.  The  Nature  of  the  Dance,  10.  II.  How  the  Ballad  and 
the  Dance  began,  26. 

III.  THE  / 34 

I.  A  Ballad  will  I  sing  to  you,  40.  II.  Monologue  within 
the  Ballad,  49.  III.  The  Change  of  Narrator  in  the 
Ballad,  53.  IV.  /  Throughout  the  Entire  Ballad,  58. 

V.  This  I  say  to  you  in  Sooth,  66. 

IV.  THE  REFRAIN 81 

I.  Nature  of  the  Refrain,  82.  II.  Ballads  without  Re- 
frains, 95. 

V.  RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY 125 

VI.  THE  SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  BALLADS     1 70 

I.  Nature,  171.  II.  Religion,  178.  III.  Morals  and  Wishes, 

194.    IV.  Fatherland,  202.  V.  Romantic  Ballads,  210. 

VI.  Ballad  Style,  216.    VII.  Dramatic  Structure,  228. 
VIII.  Simplicity,  232. 

VII.  SOME  REMARKS  ON  HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD 

POETRY 237 

VIII.  RETROSPECT 252 

INDEX   TO    BALLADS 263 

SCANDINAVIAN    BALLAD    COLLECTIONS    CITED   IN 

THE  TEXT 266 

INDEX 267 

vii 


THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR 
BALLAD 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

The  scope  of  this  book  may  be  stated  in  a  few  words. 
It  is  an  attempt  to  discover  what  our  ballads  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  like  originally,  and  to  determine  their  proper 
form  and  subject  matter.  Perhaps  the  reader  will  say  that 
this  is  supposedly  well  known  already,  since  the  greater 
part  of  our  ballads  are  accessible  in  the  model  collection 
of  Svend  Grundtvig's.  Here  every  one,  so  to  speak,  not 
only  may  see  the  ballads  for  himself,  just  as  they  were 
written  down  in  the  old  manuscripts,  but  may  also  be  led, 
through  the  highly  enlightening  remarks  of  the  editor,  to 
form  his  own  estimate  of  the  subject  matter  and  different 
versions  of  individual  ballads,  as  well  as  to  compare  our 
Danish  and  Scandinavian  stock  of  ballads  with  that  of 
other  nations. 

Nevertheless  it  may  safely  be  asserted  that  very  few 
people  are  really  alive  to  the  genuine  form  and  spirit  of 
our  medieval  ballads.  Grundtvig's  work  bears  as  its  title 
"The  Old  Popular  Ballads  of  Denmark"  (Danmarks 
Gamle  Folkeviser)  and,  though  it  was  his  special  en- 
deavor to  present  to  us  the  popular  ballads  that  belong 


2  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

distinctly  to  the  Middle  Ages,  still  he  included  many  bal- 
lads which  he  himself  referred  to  the  sixteenth  and  sev- 
enteenth centuries.  Furthermore,  Grundtvig  is  strongly 
inclined  to  dwell  upon  the  changes  which  a  ballad  may 
have  undergone  in  the  course  of  later  centuries,  down 
even  to  our  day,  although  this  can  possess  but  a  transient 
interest  in  comparison  with  the  great  and  weighty  prob- 
lem of  settling  upon  the  genuinely  earliest  version.  In  a 
large  number  —  in  by  far  the  greater  majority  —  of  cases, 
the  modern  forms  have  not  the  slightest  claim  to  literary 
notice.  In  the  next  place,  none  of  the  manuscripts  in 
which  the  complete  texts  are  recorded  can  be  traced  farther 
back  than  to  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  and  only  some 
few  fragments  of  ballads  are  to  be  found  in  manuscripts 
that  date  from  the  Middle  Ages.  Thus  it  is  clear  that, 
along  with  what  is  really  old,  this  great  work  contains 
much  that  is  modern,  that  is,  belonging  to  the  period  of 
the  Reformation  and  to  much  later  centuries.  Obviously  it 
ought  to  be  one's  task  to  separate  the  later  additions  from 
the  original  versions,  and  to  set  entirely  aside  the  later 
poems  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  of  the  Period  of  Learn- 
ing-—  provided  that  one  wished  to  know  the  ballads  as 
they  originally  issued  from  the  poet's  mouth.  In  several 
specific  cases  Grundtvig  has  given  us  suggestive  hints  that 
throw  light  upon  this  point,  but  nowhere  has  he  offered  us 
a  general  line  of  argument.  He  has  nowhere  classified 
the  distinguishing  features  by  which  we  may  detect  the 
new  apparel — the  new  finery  clothing  the  old  body.  In 
several  respects  also,  it  seems  to  me,  Grundtvig's  ear 
has  deceived  him ;  he  has  not  caught  the  true  ring  of 
antiquity. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

The  general  survey  of  the  ballads  which  Grundtvig 
failed  to  give  us  has  been  attempted  by  others.  In  his 
"  Intellectual  Life  of  the  Northern  Peoples,"  Carl  Rosen- 
berg has  entered  into  the  spirit  of  ballad  poetry  with 
delicate  appreciation  and  intelligence ;  he  has  strikingly 
illuminated  many  sides  of  the  subject  matter  and  the  form. 
But  he  has  taken  virtually  the  same  standpoint  as  did 
Grundtvig,  and  moreover  he  has  made  no  attempt  at  a 
discriminating  criticism.  On  the  other  hand,  while  Rosen- 
berg has  industriously  studied  Grundtvig's  work,  this  can- 
not altogether  be  said  of  Professor  Peter  Hansen,  though 
the  latter  has  laid  before  us  a  pretty  detailed  exposition  of 
the  ballads  in  his  "  Illustrated  History  of  Danish  Litera- 
ture." In  place  of  a  searching  study  of  Grundtvig's  chef- 
d'ceuvre,  Professor  Hansen  has  contented  himself  with 
the  popular  books  or  discussions  which  Grundtvig  pub- 
lished in  addition  to  his  great  collection,  in  particular  his 
"Selected  Popular  Ballads  of  Denmark"  (1882).  And 
one  cannot  help  a  feeling  of  resentment  toward  Professor 
Hansen  when  he  passes  so  harsh  a  judgment  as  this  :  "  So 
far  as  the  needs  of  our  literature  are  concerned,  Grundt- 
vig's edition  of  the  ballads  is  a  supererogation,  and  is 
based  upon  principles  that  are,  to  say  the  least,  debat- 
able." That  such  a  work  as  this  "  Illustrated  History  of 
Danish  Literature  "  should  characterize  Grundtvig's  collec- 
tion as  a  supererogation  is  indeed  remarkable.  At  every 
point  the  author  has  called  down  punishment  upon  his 
head  for  these  hard  and  other  still  more  unreasonable  ex- 
pressions ;  and  vengeance  has  not  stayed  her  hand,  for 
Professor  Hansen's  own  sketch  of  the  popular  ballads  has 
turned  out  to  be  an  utter  failure. 


4  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Though  we  may  differ  with  Grundtvig  in  our  studies  in 
the  ballads,  and  in  our  conceptions  of  how  they  should  be 
edited, — the  only  charge  that  we  can  lay  to  him  is  that  he 
has  included  too  much,  —  we  should  be  altogether  wrong 
in  misjudging  the  significance  of  his  edition  as  a  land- 
mark in  the  history  of  Danish  literature.  For  we  have 
here  a  work  that  is  distinguished  by  unique  accuracy,  by 
rare  fullness  of  knowledge,  and  by  great  acuteness  and 
far-reaching  insight.  Moreover,  the  way  the  material  is 
shaped  to  the  hand  of  him  who  is  disposed  to  investigate 
further  makes  obligatory  the  study  of  a  volume  in  which 
are  preserved  such  precious  relics  of  antiquity. 

That  there  exists  little  real  knowledge  of  the  subject 
of  our  popular  ballads  is  attested  by  the  odd  conceptions, 
ordinarily  met  with  (especially  noticeable  in  quotations 
from  heroic  ballads),  of  what  the  language  of  the  Middle 
Ages  is  capable  of  expressing,  and  of  what  belongs  to 
genuine  ballad  style.  Even  among  our  good  writers  —  I 
name  as  ready  examples  the  great  works  on  Danish  his- 
tory by  Niels  Bache  and  Troels  Lund  —  one  frequently 
meets  verses  quoted  which  have  absolutely  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Middle  Ages  or  with  folk  poetry,  but  which 
are,  on  the  contrary,  later  reshapings  and  fabrications  of 
Anders  Vedel,  Peder  Syv,  and  others.  In  other  words,  the 
whole  ballad  literature  has  been  regarded  too  much  as  an 
entirety ;  whereas  it  well  admits  of  a  division,  not  only 
according  to  subject  matter,  but  also  according  to  period 
of  origin.  Such  a  division  would  mark  off  the  later  ele- 
ments from  the  older. 

Now  the  present  book  has  set  for  itself  the  task  of 
coming  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  true  form  and 


INTRODUCTION  5 

nature  of  the  old  ballads.  The  investigation  will  first  and 
foremost  seek  to  solve  the  question  of  how  the  ballads 
were  utilized  ;  that  is,  what  end  they  served,  and  how  this 
end  influenced  their  form.  I  shall  investigate  the  changes 
the  ballads  necessarily  underwent  in  the  wear  and  tear  of 
daily  use,  for  memory  constantly  let  fall  the  precious  vessel 
to  the  ground  only  to  pick  it  up  again,  though  dented  and 
cracked.  In  addition,  my  plan  will  be  to  pursue  one  course 
as  long  as  I  can  ;  I  shall,  for  example,  endeavor  to  estab- 
lish a  general  trait  that  will  serve  as  a  determining  feature 
of  ballad  style  or  of  choice  of  subject,  by  which  individual 
ballads  that  appear  as  exceptions  will  be  made  to  stand  out- 
side, or  at  least  in  the  neighborhood,  of  the  dividing  line. 
After  this  I  shall  take  up  in  a  similar  way  another  line  of 
thought  and  continue  on  the  chosen  path  as  long  as  I  can. 

When  by  degrees  all  or  the  greater  part  of  my  separate 
investigations  combine  to  set  precisely  the  same  ballads  or 
group  of  ballads  without  the  general  circumference ;  when 
all  lines  gradually  come  to  converge  at  the  same  place  and 
to  point,  though  with  varying  definiteness,  to  the  above- 
mentioned  class  of  ballads,  then  I  shall  believe  indeed 
that  I  must  have  attained  to  a  right  understanding  of 
what  is  native  to  the  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  of 
what  is  to  be  regarded  as  foreign  and  excrescent.  At  any 
rate,  my  researches  will  have  laid  bare  what  is  in  reality 
to  be  found  in  this  borderland  of  literature,  whether  we 
confine  ourselves  to  the  age  in  which  the  ballads  flour- 
ished, or  whether  we  step  outside  of  the  realm  of  popular 
poetry  and  touch  upon  what  is  conscious  and  literary. 

Meanwhile  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  following.  As 
is  well  known,  Denmark  is  by  no  means  the  only  land  that 


6  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

possesses  popular  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  country. 
Nevertheless  our  popular  poetry  has  clearly  marked  supe- 
riorities which  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted  upon.  The 
Danish  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages  have  apparently  fur- 
nished the  only  outlet  to  the  popular  imagination,  to  its 
creative  power  and  its  narrative  impulse ;  for  centuries 
they  have  served  as  practically  the  sole  form  in  which  the 
people  gave  vent  to  their  feelings  —  at  any  rate  outside  of 
the  church  and  the  hours  of  prayer.  This  explains  why 
such  poetry  has  become  so  rich  in  various  directions,  and 
happens  to  contain  so  long  and  variegated  a  series  of 
shadings. 

Though  the  Faroes  and  Iceland,  Norway  and  Sweden 
have  preserved,  to  be  sure,  rich  remains  of  old  popular 
poetry,  yet  Denmark's  store  is  far  more  important  than 
that  of  any  of  these  countries,  whether  in  respect  to 
numbers  or  to  value.  Then,  too,  Denmark's  collection  is 
characterized  by  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  his- 
torical ballads.  However  much  one  is  obliged  to  shear 
away  of  what  Grundtvig  classes  under  this  head,  there 
still  exists  a  large  residue,  which  in  numbers  and  worth, 
in  beauty  and  illuminating  power,  far  surpasses  what  is  to 
be  found  of  the  same  nature  in  the  neighboring  lands  of 
the  North.  And  it  is  clear  that  when  the  question  turns 
upon  the  precise  form  and  age  of  our  popular  ballads, 
the  ballads  that  treat  of  historical  subjects  have  a  deep 
significance. 

For  the  end  I  have  in  view  there  is  one  circumstance  of 
even  greater  weight ;  namely,  that  Denmark  possesses  the 
earliest  written  records.  However  invaluable  the  literary 


INTRODUCTION  7 

material  found  lately  in  the  living  tradition  of  Denmark ; 
however  wonderful  those  objects  unearthed  in  the  heaths 
at  Herning,  or  the  songs  heard  in  Telemark's  fields,  still 
I  entertain  no  doubt  that  if  we  succeeded  in  gaining  a 
knowledge  of  the  genuine  popular  poetry  of  the  Catholic 
Middle  Ages,  we  should  have  to  render  our  thanks  exclu- 
sively to  the  noble  ladies  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  To  them  it  is  due  that  we  are  acquainted  with 
the  old  versions  of  ballads,  and  that  we  can  see  what 
changes  the  ballads  themselves  have  undergone  at  various 
periods.  To  appreciate  our  wealth  we  need  only  to  com- 
pare our  sources  of  material  with  those  of  Sweden ;  for, 
while  we  possess  forty  ballad  manuscripts  of  a  period  prior 
to  1750,  Sweden  has  only  about  ten,  the  oldest  of  which 
are  antedated  by  a  number  of  the  Danish.  Of  the  Norse 
ballads  there  exist  only  a  few  that  were  written  down  in 
early  times,  and  the  same  is  true  in  a  still  more  limited 
degree  of  the  Icelandic  ballads.  In  other  words,  the  ma- 
terial to  show  what  the  ballads  were  really  like  three  hun- 
dred to  four  hundred  years  ago  is  to  be  found  solely  in 
Denmark.  Furthermore,  the  frequent  recurrence  of  the 
same  ballad  in  many  manuscripts  is  of  great  importance  in 
bringing  about  a  knowledge  of  the  true  form  of  the  ballad. 
Finally,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  de- 
cidedly advisable,  it  seems  to  me,  to  be  cautious  in  the  use 
of  Icelandic  and  Faroese  ballads.  Among  the  inhabitants 
of  these  islands  the  recollection  of  Saga  and  Edda  poetry 
was  constant  and  vigorous,  and  this  recollection  must  easily 
have  blended  with  and  influenced  the  poetry  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  In  Denmark,  on  the  contrary,  all  knowledge  of  the 
poetry  of  antiquity  had  completely  disappeared.  While  in 


8  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

the  latter  country  there  exist  practically  no  poetical  compo- 
sitions in  the  vernacular,  except  the  ballads,  in  Iceland  the 
popular  ballads  form  only  a  small  part  of  a  great  poetical 
literature  dating  from  the  latter  part  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  then,  that  the  one  branch 
of  poetry  could  not  help  influencing  the  other ;  that  is  to 
say,  in  Iceland  and  in  the  Faroes  the  ballads  have  acquired 
a  more  conscious  and  literary  stamp  than  they  have  else- 
where. Moreover  it  happened  that  "  learned  men,"  in 
particular  the  clergy,  throughout  these  islands  contributed 
in  a  high  degree  to  the  flowering  of  this  poetry,  or  at  least 
to  its  preservation.  Thus  it  took  an  impress  which  makes 
it  less  adapted  to  serve  as  a  touchstone  for  what  is  genuine 
and  ancient  in  the  Danish  ballads. 

Having  thus  indicated  the  purpose  and  method  of  my 
studies,  I  shall  pass  on  to  the  special  investigations. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD 

There  is  a  marked  difference  between  a  poem  as  we 
ordinarily  understand  it  and  a  ballad.  The  popular  ballads 
of  the  Middle  Ages  are  not  poems  which  were  written 
down  in  books  and  intended  for  reading ;  they  are  songs 
which  have  been  preserved  by  memory  and  were  sung 
by  one  or  more  persons  in  the  presence  of  others,  being 
accompanied  at  the  same  time  by  a  dance  of  a  mimic  or 
dramatic  nature.  In  the  oldest  poetry  of  every  people 
there  exists  a  close  relation  between  these  three  things, 
says  a  well-informed  writer :  no  poem  that  was  not  sung, 
no  song  that  was  not  danced  to,  and  no  dance  that  was 
not  accompanied  by  a  song.1  This  statement  admits  of  no 
question.  Nowadays,  in  the  majority  of  songs  we  sing,  we 
lay  only  an  infinitesimal  stress,  if  any  at  all,  on  the  text, 
which  perhaps  we  do  not  even  remember  rightly,  and 
which,  at  any  rate,  we  seldom  sing  through  to  the  end. 
We  are  never  moved  to  embellish  the  performance  with 
dramatic  or  mimic  gestures,  nor  to  mark  the  rhythm  of  the 
melody  with  the  swaying  of  our  bodies. 

In  earlier  times  song  and  mimic  gestures  were  much 
more  intimately  related.  As  late  as  1 767  —  as  we  can  see 
from  a  poster  of  the  Royal  Theatre  —  a  young  Scotch  lady 

1  Franz  Bohme,  Geschichte  des  Tanzes  in  Deutschland,  I,  13,  229; 
cf.  Bohme,  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,  p.  xlvii. 

9 


10  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

appeared  in  various  dances  at  the  theater,  singing  at  the 
same  time,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  former 
dancers,  French  and  Italian  arias.  If  we  go  back  to  Hoi- 
berg's  day  we  shall  meet  with  a  poster  of  1726,  which 
reads  that  during  the  performance  of  "  the  I  ith  of  June  " 
there  will  appear  between  acts  "  one  of  the  best  singers 
and  dancers  from  the  opera  in  Stockholm."  1  If  we  pursue 
the  inquiry  as  far  back  as  the  Middle  Ages,  we  shall  find 
singing  and  dancing  closely  linked  together ;  in  Iceland,  in 
fact,  the  term  "ballad  "  signified  a  dance.  For  instance,  Earl 
Gissur  sang  the  dance  "  My  sorrows  are  heavier  than  lead," 
and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Berg  was  called  "  Dancing 
Berg,"  doubtless  because  he  composed  satirical  ballads. 
Even  in  the  word  "  ballade  "  we  have  an  indication  of  its 
former  connection  with  the  dance. 

The  Icelandic  sagas,  which  allude  to  so  many  amuse- 
ments, games,  and  festivals  of  Norse  antiquity,  say  not  a 
word  about  the  dance.  It  is  not  till  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  that  we  hear  the  dance  at  all  commonly  spoken  of. 
At  this  period,  however,  as  stated  above,  the  dance  meant 
also  a  popular  ballad  or  a  satirical  poem,  whose  metrical 
form  was  identical  with  that  of  the  Danish  popular  ballads. 

I.  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  DANCE 

It  must  now  be  our  task  to  inquire  into  the  meaning  of 
the  term  "dance  "  as  understood  in  those  times,  and  whether 
or  not  we  dare  apply  our  modern  conception  of  the  term 
to  the  dance  of  our  forefathers.  The  answer  must  evidently 
be  "  No  "  ;  the  difference  is  too  striking.  The  manner  of 

1  Th.  Overskou,  Den  danske  Skueplads,  I,  228 ;  II,  400. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      II 

dancing  with  which  we  are  generally  familiar,  namely,  that 
of  couples,  who  glide  over  the  floor,  whirling  each  other 
around  more  or  less  rapidly,  belongs  to  a  far  later  time. 
We  can  learn  something  of  the  period  when  the  new 
fashion  of  dancing  came  into  vogue  from  a  study  of  the 
conditions  existing  in  Germany.  But  I  direct  especial 
attention  to  "Chronik  des  Landes  Dithmarschen,"  an 
account  written  in  1 598  by  the  pastor  Koster,  called  Neo- 
corus.  Here  he  relates  that  formerly  the  inhabitants  of 
Ditmarsh  had  two  styles  of  dancing,  namely,  "  Trymmeken- 
dans,"  which  was  characterized  by  certain  steps  and  imitative 
gestures  (Trymmeke  means  a  person  with  nice,  affected 
ways),  and  a  leaping  or  hopping  dance.  Finally,  however, 
there  was  introduced  from  abroad  about  the  time  of  the 
Ditmarsh  wars  (i  559)  "eine  sonderlike  Manere," according 
to  which  people  danced  in  couples.1  This  mode  of  dancing, 
however,  had  come  up  from  the  South  to  other  countries 
somewhat  earlier  than  in  the  case  of  Ditmarsh.2  Perhaps 
it  was  the  appearance  of  this  new  fashion  that  gave  rise  to  the 
following  admonition,  recorded  in  a  book  entitled  "  The 
Wreath  of  Honor  of  all  Virtuous,  Christian  Maidens," 
which  came  out  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century : 
"  That  they  engage  in  a  short,  modest,  and  honest  dance, 
doing  the  steps  after  one  another  in  decency  and  order, 
without  undue  swinging  and  other  indecorum."  3 

This  older  style  of  dancing  brought  to  our  notice  in  the 
Ditmarsh  chronicle  we  can  very  clearly  identify  first  and 

1  Johann  Adolfi  (called  Neocorus),  Chronik  des  Landes  Dithmarschen, 
ed.  by  F.  C.  Dahlmann,  I,  177  ff.  »  Bohme,  Tanz,  I,  49  ff. 

8  Fol.  VII;  cf.  O.  Nielsen,  Copenhagen's  Diplomatarium,  VI,  157; 
Troels  Lund,  Danmarks  og  Norges  Historic  i  det  16.  Aarh.,  VI,  169. 


12  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

foremost  with  the  help  of  our  popular  ballads.   Thus  runs 
the  ballad  of  "  Proud  Elselille  "  (No.  220) : 

Midsummer  night  upon  the  sward, 
Knights  and  squires  were  standing  guard. 

In  the  grove  a  knightly  dance  they  tread 
With  torches  and  garlands  of  roses  red. 

In  sable  and  marten  before  them  all, 
Dances  Sir  Iver,  the  noblest  of  all. 

To  the  king  in  his  tower  strong 
Floats  the  noise  of  the  dancing  throng. 

"  Who  is  yon  knight  that  leads  the  dance, 
And  louder  than  all  the  song  he  chants?  " 

Shortly  afterwards  the  king  enters  the  dance  by  the  side 
of  Sir  Iver.  From  this  ballad  it  appears  that  one  walks  the 
dance,  that  one  steps  it,  that  it  takes  place  in  the  grove, 
that  one  person  leads  another  by  the  hand,  and  that  the  whole 
is  directed  by  a  leader.  Or  we  may  cite  "  Hagen's  Dance  " 

(No.  465) : 

The  king  he  sits  in  Ribe, 

Quaffing  the  wine ; 
He  summons  all  his  Danish  knights 

Each  to  his  home. 
So  stately  dances  Hagen. 

"  Stand  up,  stand  up,  my  merry  men 

And  knights  so  keen ; 
And  step  for  me  a  beggar-dance 

In  the  meadows  green ! " 
So  stately  dances  Hagen. 

Now  longs  the  king  himself 

To  step  the  dance ; 
The  hero  Hagen  follows  after, 

For  them  the  song  he  chants. 
So  stately  dances  Hagen. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD  13 

Or  "  Knight  Stig's  Wedding  "  (No.  76) : 

F  1 8.  Gaily  the  maidens  join  in  the  dance, 

Each  with  crowns  of  roses  and  garlands. 

19.  There  dances  Sir  Stig  as  light  as  a  wand, 
With  a  silver  cup  in  his  white  hand. 

Here  also  the  dance  is  held  out  of  doors,  in  the  grove,  in 
the  green  meadows  (that  is,  on  the  lawns),  and  always  one 
"steps"  the  dance.  So  the  refrain  runs  in  No.  189: 
"  She  stepped  so  stately,"  and  in  No.  261  : 

It  was  Mettelil,  the  count's  daughter, 
She  stepped  the  dance  for  them. 

Among  the  Scandinavian  peasants  dancing  in  the  open 
air  is  still  kept  up.  In  confirmation  of  this  reads  the 
account  written  by  Jonas  Stolt,  a  village  shoemaker,  setting 
forth  the  conditions  existing  in  the  region  about  Kalmar 
in  1820  :  "  On  summer  evenings  a  dance  was  held  on  the 
grass-plots  of  the  court-yards  and  on  Sunday  afternoons 
on  the  bridges  that  lead  over  the  river  "  (p.  114). 

The  men  can  carry  a  cup,  a  ring,  or  a  staff ;  the  women 
a  garland,  or,  according  to  ballads  Nos.  364,  432,  "  she 
dances  with  mirror  and  wreaths  of  roses."  In  Germany  it 
is  said  that  the  maidens  dance  with  mirrors  suspended 
coquettishly  from  a  ribbon.  Here,  furthermore,  the  garland 
is  most  intimately  associated  with  the  dance,  just  as  to-day 
it  is  used  for  cotillion  favors  and  bouquets.  Such  may 
well  have  been  the  case  in  Denmark.  In  "  The  Maiden's 
Defense  of  Honor  "  (No.  189)  occur  the  lines : 

6.  Fair  Ingelil  came  to  Thure's  isle, 
Where  ladies  the  time  in  dance  beguile. 

7.  Lords  and  knights  began  the  dance, 
Proud  Ingelil  sat  still  and  wove  garlands. 


14  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

8.  Then  spake  Sir  Thure  by  the  salt  sea-strand : 

"  For  whom  do  you  weave  those  gay  garlands  ?  " 

9.  "  I  weave  this  garland  for  no  other  man 
Than  him,  my  brother,  the  best  in  the  land." 

We  read  in  Article  32  of  the  statutes  of  a  guild  in 
Ny-Larsker  on  Bornholm  (1599)  that  it  was  enjoined  on 
all  men  and  boys,  members  and  guests,  to  be  present  in  the 
barn  while  the  preliminary  dance  was  going  on  and  the 
garlands  were  being  distributed.  He  who  declined  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  garland  was  fined  one  keg  of  beer. 
And  in  Articles  37,  38  of  the  same  statutes  we  read  that 
virtuous  gentlewomen  and  modest  girls  were  free  to  choose 
the  May-king  while  the  garlands  were  receiving  their  deco- 
rations of  pretty  herbs.  Here,  too,  the  member  or  guest 
who  refused  the  garland  made  by  honest  folk,  when  prof- 
fered by  the  May-king,  and  in  the  struggle  happened  to 
tear  it,  had  to  pay  for  his  obstinacy  one  keg  of  beer 
(The  New  Royal  Collection,  No.  399,  Fol.  C). 

We  can  corroborate  what  we  know  of  the  old  style  of 
dancing  by  examining  the  pictorial  illustrations  of  the 
dances  performed  by  the  nobility  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
A  fresco  painting  from  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  church 
at  Orslev  on  Skjelskor  depicts  a  row  of  dancing  men  and 
women,  led  by  a  "  foredancer,"  who  directs  those  taking 
part  with  lively  and  emphatic  gestures  of  his  left  hand, 
while  in  his  right  he  carries  a  ring  or  some  other  object.1 
Some  frescoes  in  Runkelstein  Castle  in  the  Tyrol  repre- 
sent a  long  chain  of  couples  dancing  under  the  trees  in 
the  garden.  At  their  head  dances  a  woman,  followed  by  a 

1  For  picture  see  Aarbogerfor  nord.  Oldk.,  1888,  p.  135,  and  Tidsskrift 
for  Kunstindustrie,  1890,  Vol.  I. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD  15 

man  clad  in  a  thick  doublet  and  wearing  peaked  shoes, 
holding  his  right  hand  behind  him  ;  he  in  turn  leads  with 
graceful  steps  the  woman  next  to  him.1 

Similar  to  these  dances  thus  portrayed  we  may  conceive 
the  dances  in  Denmark  to  have  been.  Besides  these  more 
decorous  dances  with  tripping  steps,  there  is  found  another, 
which  the  peasantry  especially  affect,  characterized  by  leap- 
ing steps  and  wilder  movements.  At  the  memorable  wed- 
ding of  Solenta,  sister  of  Iver  Blaa,  and  Count  Gunzelin 
(No.  1 6),  which  fell  out  so  merrily  and  boisterously,  there 
were  present  all  those  famous  heroes,  Vidrik  Verlandson, 
Didrik  of  Bern,  Holger  Danske,  Master  Hildebrand,  Sivard 
Snarensvend,  and  Langben  Risker.  But  the  bride  herself 
was  an  imposing  figure  : 

Six  whole  oxen  she  consumed, 

And  five  full  flitches  of  bacon, 

And  when  the  hiccoughs  put  an  end  to  her  bout, 

Seven  barrels  of  beer  she  had  taken. 

The  rank  began  to  leap  and  frolic  (Skrikke-Ref) 
From  Ribe  to  the  bay  of  Sli ; 
The  smallest  warrior  in  the  dance 
Towered  well  five  ells  above  the  knee. 

Even  the  table  and  the  benches  danced, 
And  fire  flew  from  the  hats ; 
Out  then  ran  the  warriors  good : 
"  Now  help  us,  Mother  Scratch  !  " 

Rei  means  "rank,"  "a  row,"  "a  train  of  followers"  (cf. 
Asgaards-Reien,  that  is,  Odin's  Hunt,  Arthur's  Chase), 
and  Hoppelrei  was  the  name  given  in  Germany  to  a  dance 
which  used  to  be  popular  with  the  peasants,  who  danced 

1  Bohme,  Tanz,  pp.  31,  320. 


16  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

it  "as  if  they  would  fly."  On  the  whole,  den  Reihen 
springen  corresponds  to  den  Tanz  treten.  Skrikke  means 
"  to  leap  "  or  "  gambol  like  a  calf  or  kid."  It  may  well  be 
said,  therefore,  to  have  been  a  remarkable  dance  in  which 
the  merry  revelers  indulged. 

Emphatic  gestures  were  characteristic  of  even  the  more 
sedate  dances.  This  we  can  gather  from  pictures,  which 
almost  invariably  represent  the  arms,  legs,  and  feet  smartly 
extended  and  the  head  bent  low,  often  combined  with  cer- 
tain contortions  of  the  body.  At  times  the  movements 
seem  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  grace.  In  the  church  at 
Hecklingen,  Saxony,  there  is  portrayed  an  angel  dancing 
with  the  tips  of  the  toes  turned  out  on  the  right  foot,  and 
turned  in  on  the  left  so  that  when  the  legs  crossed  the 
toes  of  both  feet  met.  In  several  miniatures  from  a  manu- 
script of  Heinrich  von  Stretlingen  ladies  are  represented 
with  breasts  and  waists  extended  well  forward,  heads  and 
arms  sharply  inclined,  legs  and  feet  forming  acute  angles, 
and  the  fingers  spread  widely  apart  and  bent  in  various 
directions.  In  the  church  of  St.  Sernin  in  Toulouse  is  a 
picture  of  Salome,  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  dancing  with 
a  bell  in  her  hand  before  Herod  Antipas ;  the  right  foot 
executes  a  curious  step  with  the  toes  bent  backward  to 
the  right.1 

I  am  in  some  doubt,  however,  just  how  reliable  to  regard 
the  evidence  offered  by  these  last  mentioned  pictures.  The 
perplexing  footboard  on  which  several  figures  stand,  to- 
gether with  the  defective  ability  of  the  artist,  however,  may 

1  Puttrich,  Denkmale  der  Baukunst  in  Sachsen,  I,  table  32.  See  Von 
der  Hagen,  Bildersaal,  tables  16,  22,  39,  46;  Bohme,  Tanz,  pp.  33  ff. ; 
Schultz,  Das  hofische  Leben,  2d  ed.,  I,  550  ff. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      17 

explain  away  some  of  the  oddities.  But  thus  much  is  cer- 
tain, that  during  the  dance  a  very  strong  play  of  feature 
was  called  into  action.  In  the  Icelandic  Vikivaki  dance 
the  participants  stood  on  the  right  foot  and  swayed  the 
upper  part  of  the  body  to  and  fro.  An  account  from  East 
Friesland  (1691)  tells  of  an  old  dance,  common  among  the 
peasantry,  which  was  performed  by  two  men  and  two 
women,  accompanied  by  set  movements  of  the  arms,  hands, 
legs,  and  head ;  distinct  movements  and  gestures,  in  fact, 
existed  for  all  the  limbs,  at  the  expense,  it  may  be  added, 
of  much  perspiration.  The  men  struck  their  hands  smartly 
together,  first  behind  their  backs,  then  in  front  of  their 
legs,  while  the  women  went  through  the  same  motions 
after  them.  Their  most  individual  postures  they  assumed 
toward  the  close  of  the  singing,  which  was  slow  and 
mournful.1 

Those  were  famous  dances  that  were  performed  toward 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  with  so  much  dignity  and 
splendor  by  the  patrician  families  of  South  Germany. 
When  King  Christian  I,  in  his  travels  abroad  in  1474, 
made  a  stay  in  Augsburg,  the  families  of  the  nobility 
held  a  dance  in  his  honor,  which  seems  to  have  been 
marked  by  a  becoming  union  of  mirth  and  gravity.  As 
the  old  account  reads  : 2  "  For  the  pleasure  of  the  King 
of  Denmark  and  at  the  wish  of  the  Kaiser  there  was  held 
soon  after  a  merry  dance,  which  was  carried  out  with  great 
pomp  and  dignity  in  the  usual  dance  hall,  lasting  almost 
four  hours,  which  the  King  mentioned  as  having  witnessed 
with  especial  delight." 

1  Bbhrae,  Tanz,  p.  51. 

2  Werlich,  Chronica  von  Augspurg  (1595),  II,  229. 


1 8  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

A  dance  often  spoken  of  in  the  ballads  is  the  "  Beggar- 
dance  "  (see  Vol.  II,  59,  st.  8  ;  Vol.  Ill,  166,  sts.  13,  27 ; 
Vol.  IV,  365,  455,  st.  i).  In  "  Proud  Signild  and  Queen 
Sophie  "  (No.  129)  occur  the  lines  : 

27.  When  to  the  castle  gate  she  chanced, 
She  saw  them  dancing  the  beggar-dance. 

28.  Twice  they  danced  the  dance  around, 
The  queen  stood  gazing  at  her  spell-bound. 

29.  Sad  at  heart  then  was  the  queen 

When  Signelil  danced  by  the  side  of  the  king. 

From  this  ballad  it  appears  to  have  been  a  figure  dance. 
In  Germany  there  was  found  a  "  Bettlertanz,"  in  which 
all  the  couples  formed  a  circle  while  dancing,  with  one 
couple  in  the  middle,  who  assumed  various  attitudes  and 
enacted  a  scene,  somewhat  perhaps  after  the  style  of  the 
Polish  "  Going  a-begging."  In  every  instance  song  accom- 
panied this  dance,  according  to  the  old  beggar  ballad. 
This  ballad  treats  of  the  same  theme  as  the  Danish  drama 
"Karrig  Niding"  ("The  Miserly  Scoundrel"),  in  which 
the  beggar,  during  the  miser's  absence,  is  received  most 
courteously  by  the  housewife  and  installed  with  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  husband.  The  audacity  inherent  in  the  theme 
doubtless  affected  the  dance,  which  became  so  hilarious 
that  in  1580  it  was  forbidden  by  decree  in  the  Electo- 
rate of  Saxony.1  The  Danish  beggar-dance  must  certainly 
have  been  identical  with  this.  It  is  also  called  the  "  Beggars' 
dance  "  (and  the  "  Begging-dance  "),  a  name  that  is  derived 

1  Bohme,  Tanz,  pp.  57,  103,  1 16.  The  German  song  has  been  printed 
by  Birket  Smith,  Rauch's  Plays,  pp.  Ixxxii  ff. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      19 

from  Bedere,  —  a  beggar,  —  which  the  old  translators  of 
the  Bible  rendered  as  "  needy  men  "  or  "  mendicants." 
The  name  "  mendicants  "  was  also  applied  to  those  in- 
mates of  the  monasteries  who  journeyed  about  collecting 
the  benefactions  (see  Molbech's  and  Kalkar's  dictionaries). 
Our  own  time  has  preserved  three  distinct  references  to 
this  term  in  the  double  refrain  of  "  Peder  and  Malfred  " 
(No.  278) : 

Step  ye  well ! 

Step  and  beg,  an  ye  will ! 

or, 

Step  up  and  beg,  an  ye  will ! 

There  seems  to  be  good  ground  for  believing  that  the  re- 
frain in  its  original  form  was  an  animating  shout : 

Step  up,  beggar,  an  ye  will ! 

One  gets  the  impression  that  in  Denmark  also  this  dance 
was  relegated  to  the  more  boisterous  spirits.  Perhaps  it 
was  a  kiss  that  was  requested  ;  for  that  a  kiss  could  be  ex- 
changed during  the  dance  is  scarcely  to  be  questioned.  In 
this  respect  the  Germans  never  overstepped  the  bounds  of 
propriety.1 

In  "  The  Rape  of  the  Venedian  King  "  (No.  240)  there 
is  named  another  dance  : 

i.  So  merrily  goes  the  beggar-dance 
On  the  plain  outside  the  wall ; 
Maidens  are  stepping  the  luck-dance  (Lykke-Dans), 
And  knights  are  playing  ball. 

This  last  dance  I  am  not  acquainted  with. 

1  Bohme,  Tanz,  index. 


20           THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

As  is  well  known,  the  old  dances  are  still  kept  up 
among  the  Faroe  islanders.  Men  and  women  take  each 
other  by  the  hand  and  form  a  circle.  The  movement  con- 
sists simply  of  taking  three  regular  steps  to  the  left,  then, 
after  balancing  a  little,  bringing  the  right  over  against  the 
left  and  kicking  the  left  out,  etc.  Most  frequently  it  is 
danced  slowly  and  solemnly ;  but  the  youthful  spirits  of 
-the  circle  often  indulge  in  a  faster  step,  leaping  up  in  the 
air  and  raising  their  hands  above  their  heads.  It  can  also 
be  executed  in  a  lively,  exuberant  fashion.  In  the  Heb- 
rides, where  they  dance  faster  than  in  other  places,  is 
found  a  round  dance  which  is  taken  at  a  very  rapid  tempo. 
This  dance  is  considered  to  be  their  oldest.  The  partici- 
pants form  the  usual  circle.  During  the  singing  of  the 
strophe  they  either  remain  in  their  places  or  dance  back  ; 
but  during  the  refrain  they  rush  quickly  forward.  Through- 
out the  dance  the  leader's  song  is  heard  above  that  of  the 
others.  The  Faroe  islanders  make  manifest,  on  the  whole, 
that  they  are  not  indifferent  to  the  content  of  the  song ; 
but  that  by  their  looks  and  gestures  they  endeavor  to 
express  the  varying  nature  of  the  subject  matter.1 

All  the  above  conditions  must  be  borne  in  mind  when 
we  are  considering  our  popular  ballads.  Beyond  all  doubt 
the  style  of  dancing  has  influenced  the  form  of  the  bal- 
lads, and  vice  versa.  Moreover,  that  the  ballads  have 
been  utilized  by  the  dance  does  not  follow  merely  from 
what  has  been  stated  above.  Individual  ballads  them- 
selves, so  to  speak,  mention  that  they  were  danced  to. 

1  Lyngbye,  Faeroiske  Quasder,  pp.8  ff.;  Antiquarisk  Tidsskrift,  1846- 
1848,  p.  259 ;  1849-1851,  p.  279 ;  N.  Winther,  Faeroernes  Oldtidshistorie, 
pp.  442  ff. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD  21 

For  example,  note  the  refrain  in  "  The  Skipper  and  the 
Maid"  (No.  241): 

Step  lightly  o'er  the  green  plain  — 
The  maid  must  follow  me ; 

and  in  "  The  Wounded  Maiden  "  (No.  244) : 

Step  up  boldly,  young  knight ! 
Honor  the  maidens  in  the  dance. 

It  must  not  be  asserted,  however,  that  the  ballads  served 
no  other  end  than  that  of  accompaniment  to  the  dance ; 
naturally  they  could  be  sung  like  any  other  song,  and,  to 
judge  from  several  refrains,  we  must  even  think  of  people 
singing  them  while  out  riding  or  rowing. 

So  much  is  certain  :  the  subject  matter  never  interfered 
with  the  use  of  the  ballads  in  the  dance.  To  this  the  his- 
torical ballads,  for  example,  testify.  We  know  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Faroes  danced  to  the  ballad  of  "  King 
Hans'  Wedding  "  ("  King  Hans  he  sits  in  Copenhagen  "), 
and  the  pastor  Koster  says  that  the  inhabitants  of  Dit- 
marsh  danced  to  a  song  on  the  Danish  defeat  at  Hem- 
mingsted.  In  the  Faroes  people  danced  to  ballads  that 
were  religious  in  content,  and  in  the  preceding  century 
even  the  clergy  were  seen  in  their  ecclesiastical  robes  tak- 
ing part  in  a  dance,  on  such  occasions  as  weddings,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  ballads  like  the  "  Ballad  of  Isaac " 
("  Ye  noble  bridal  pair,  give  heed  "),  which  was  a  psalm 
from  the  Book  of  Psalms ;  or  the  "  Ballad  of  Susanna," 
which  treated  of  Daniel  and  Susanna.  In  1818  the  pastor 
Lyngbye  saw  the  congregation  assemble  in  the  churchyard 
and  there  carry  on  a  pantomimic  dance  to  an  old  mytho- 
logical ballad  —  "  Grane  bore  the  gold  from  the  heath." 


22  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

At  Danish  manses  solemn  dances  were  permitted  to  the 
music  of  the  Psalms  of  David.1 

It  goes  without  saying  that  erotic  ballads  took  their  rise 
in  the  dance.  As  far  as  satirical  ballads  are  concerned,  we 
know  that  in  the  Faroes  lampooning  ballads  were  danced 
to,  and  that  he  who  was  the  subject  of  the  ballad  and  the 
victim  of  the  satire  had  to  dance  into  the  bargain,  for  he 
was  seized  by  two  stout  men  and  held  fast  in  line  by  either 
hand  until  the  ballad  came  to  an  end.2  In  Bavaria  there 
exists  the  so-called  " Schnada-hiipfl "  (schnada  means  "to 
babble,"  "  to  tralala  "),  which  consists  of  a  four-line  stanza 
with  one  or  two  rimes,  sung  to  well  known  melodies,  and 
often  composed  offhand  by  the  dancers.  While  these 
"  Schnada-hiipfl  "  are  often  erotic,  they  are  especially  satiri- 
cal. Two  fellows  seem  to  find  amusement,  for  example,  in 
endeavoring  to  outsatirize  each  other,  being  privileged  in 
this  sport,  for  the  purpose  of  ridicule,  to  draw  upon  the 
faults  and  foibles  of  the  whole  valley  side.3 

This  variety  of  petty  satirical  verse  has  found  a  home 
here  in  Denmark  as  well ;  mention  of  this  fact  is  made  in 
the  sagas  (see  p.  10  above).  An  interesting  specimen  of 
such  an  improvised  satirical  ballad,  which  was  danced  to 
by  those  who  composed  it,  is  to  be  found  in  ballad  No.  366. 
Here  follows  the  greater  portion  of  this  ballad : 

"  All  day  my  heart  is  heavy 
With  many  a  sigh  and  groan ; 
All  because  of  those  rich  wooers, 
Sir  Lave's  sons  from  Lund. 
All  day  my  heart  is  heavy  ! 

1  Vilhelm  Bang,  Praestegaardsliv,  p.  272. 

3  Skand.  Lift.  Selsk.  Skrifter,  ser.  12-13,  P-  2&S  '•>  Lyngbye,  Faeroiske 
Quaeder,  p.  14.  8  Bohme,  Tanz,  p.  239. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD  23 

"  Stand  up,  stand  up,  my  maidens  all, 
And  dance  for  me  a  space ; 
And  sing  for  me  a  ballad 
About  the  sons  of  Lave's  race ! 

"  And  sing  for  me  a  ballad, 
And  this  your  song  shall  be : 
All  how  they  wait  outside  my  gate, 
And  no  answer  get  from  me. 

"  The  first  is  hight  Sir  Ove, 

The  second  Sir  Eskel  Hawk ; 

They  Ve  served  so  long  at  the  court  of  the  king, 

They  stand  neither  heat  nor  smoke. 

"  The  third  is  hight  Sir  Magnus, 
A  learned  clerk  is  he ; 
There  lies  a  jewel  hid  in  my  chest 
Is  worth  more  than  all  three." 

Nought  else  thought  Elselille 
Than  they  two  were  alone ; 
But  by  stood  Sir  Magnus 
And  listened  till  she  was  done. 

It  was  then  Sir  Magnus 
He  stepped  within  the  door; 
It  was  young  Elselille, 
Her  face  deep  blushes  bore. 

"  Stand  up,  stand  up,  my  comely  young  men, 
And  dance  with  me  a  space ; 
And  we  ourselves  shall  sing  a  ballad 
About  the  sons  of  Lave's  race. 

"  Sing  for  me  a  ballad, 

And  sing  it  so  for  me : 

They  ride  to  proud  Elselille's  gate 

And  good  the  answer  will  be. 


24  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

"  The  first  is  hight  Sir  Ove, 

The  second  Sir  Eskel  Hawk ; 

They  've  served  so  long  at  the  court  of  the  king 

They  stand  both  heat  and  smoke. 

11  The  third  is  hight  Sir  Magnus, 

A  learned  clerk  is  he ; 

There  lies  a  jewel  in  the  maiden's  chest 

Is  worth  more  than  we  three !  " 

"  Hear  me  now,  Sir  Magnus, 
With  your  chaffing  now  let  be ; 
Meet  me  the  morn  at  the  church  door 
And  plight  your  vows  to  me." 

Up  then  stood  Sir  Magnus 
And  leaned  him  on  his  sword ; 
"  Men  know  well,  proud  Elselille, 
The  feast  is  more  than  you  are  worth." 

He  lifted  up  young  Elselille 

And  set  her  upon  his  horse, 

He  led  her  out  to  the  wild  greenwood, 

Where  thick  grow  the  broom  and  gorse. 


This  is  the  reward  proud  Elselille  got 
For  her  scornful,  bitter  word  : 
For  eight  long  years  she  sat  a  widow 
Alone  at  her  own  board. 

When  eight  years  had  come  and  gone, 
He  remembered  honor  and  right ; 
He  rode  out  to  her  father's  gate 
And  wooed  her  for  his  heart's  delight. 
All  day  my  heart  is  heavy  / 

To  avoid  misunderstanding,  let  me  add  in  conclusion 
that  while  in  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  cases  one 
danced  to  the  singing  of  ballads,  yet  instrumental  music 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      25 

was  also  made  use  of.  The  simplest  form  of  accompani- 
ment was  undoubtedly  that  of  the  drum  alone.  An  account 
from  I5/O,1  treating  of  the  shopmen's  guild  in  Randers, 
preserves  the  regulation  that  the  drummer  must  not  beat 
his  drum  longer  than  the  master  of  the  corporation  allows. 
The  drum  was  frequently  heard  also  in  the  guilds  of  the 
peasants.  In  Article  32  of  the  statutes  of  a  guild  in  Ny- 
Larsker  on  Bornholm  (1599)  there  is  a  rule  that  "  no  one 
must  be  found  playing  the  drum  in  our  guild  except  our 
appointed  drummer,  unless  the  master  of  the  corporation 
gives  his  consent  thereto." 

Further  information  on  this  point  can  be  gained  from 
a  consideration  of  the  "  players  "  (jongleurs).  These  cor- 
responded to  the  present-day  musicians,  and  often  in  olden 
times  most  closely  to  ale-house  fiddlers  and  jugglers.  The 
"player"  of  the  earliest  day  was  an  individual  more  or 
less  defenseless  and  subject  to  ridicule,  concerning  whom 
the  laws  made  various  amusing  provisions.  Later  he  seems 
to  have  commanded  more  respect ;  at  any  rate,  he  is  often 
mentioned  in  ballads  as  being  attendant  on  weddings  and 
other  festivals.  "  No  gold  was  grudged  the  player  "  is  a 
standing  ballad  formula.  There  certainly  can  be  no  doubt 
that  singing  was  one  of  his  accomplishments.  On  the 
whole,  his  task  was  to  furnish  amusement,  and  listening 
to  music  was  such  a  favorite  recreation  that  singing  and 
song  naturally  came  under  his  jurisdiction.  That  the  verb 
"  to  play  "  can  mean  "  to  sing  "  as  well  is  evident  from  the 
expression  "  they  played  in  the  Danish  tongue,"  and  there 
is  mention  in  the  Norse  Didrik  saga  of  a  "  player  "  who 
sang,  plucked  the  harp  strings,  and  played  the  fiddle.  In 
1  Stadfeldt,  Randers,  p.  88. 


26  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

a  church  in  Upland  there  is  a  picture  of  a  fool  singing  to 
the  accompaniment  of  a  zither  he  is  playing.  Archbishop 
Johannes  Magni  (ob.  1544)  relates  that  heroic  ballads  were 
sung  to  the  music  of  pipes.1  It  is  scarcely  probable  that 
the  "  player  "  took  any  part  in  the  dancing ;  at  least  it 
would  depend  on  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  Peder 
Laale,  however,  has  the  proverb :  "  The  player  dances 
willingly  for  pay."  Very  possibly  the  capers  of  the  juggler 
were  what  he  had  in  mind  here. 

From  all  this  evidence  it  appears  that  the  ballad,  when 
not  danced  to,  could  be  accompanied  by  stringed  instru- 
ments, as  was  indeed  the  custom  in  other  lands.  In  wit- 
ness of  this  run  the  following  stanzas  from  "  Hagen's 
Dance  "  (No.  465) : 

Then  awoke  the  Danish  queen, 

As  in  her  tower  she  lay : 
"  Which  one  of  my  maidens 

On  the  harp  doth  play  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  one  of  your  maidens 

That  on  the  harp  doth  play ; 
It  is  the  hero  Hagen 

Who  sings  so  gay." 

II.  How  THE  BALLAD  AND  THE  DANCE  BEGAN 

I  have  striven  to  detail  thus  explicitly  the  old  style  of 
dancing  and  the  use  of  the  ballad  in  the  dance,  because 
I  shall  constantly  need  to  refer  to  these  features  in  the 
investigations  that  follow.  And  here  I  shall  dispose  of  a 
single  question  at  once. 

1  Axel  Olrik,  in  Mindre  Afhandlinger,  published  by  the  Philol.- 
Histor.  Samfund,  pp.  74  ff.,  265  ff. ;  Schiick,  Svensk  Literaturhistoria, 
pp.  in  ff. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      27 

How  did  the  dance  begin  ?  In  Ditmarsh,  according  to 
Neocorus,  it  was  started  by  a  leader  of  the  song,  who 
stepped  out  in  front  of  the  others,  holding  a  drinking  cup 
in  his  hand.  After  he  had  sung  a  verse,  all  those  assem- 
bled repeated  it.  He  then  sang  another,  which  was  like- 
wise repeated.  At  this  point  another  sprang  forward,  who 
as  leader  assumed  charge  of  the  dance.  Taking  his  hat 
in  his  hand,  he  danced  sedately  around  the  room,  at  the 
same  time  urging  the  others  to  join  in  and  arrange  them- 
selves in  line.  The  leader  kept  time  with  the  song,  and  the 
other  dancers  kept  time  with  the  leader.  The  latter  was 
thus  enabled  to  direct  as  many  as  two  hundred  dancers. 

Manifestly  the  same  thing  is  set  forth  in  our  popular 

ballads : 

"  Who  is  yon  knight  that  leads  the  dance, 
And  louder  than  all  the  song  he  chants  ?  " 

The  leader  of  the  dance  must  carry  a  drinking  cup,  a 
beaker,  or  a  glass  in  his  hand.  This  feature  still  survives 
in  those  localities  where  the  "  Schnada-hiipfl  "  is  danced ; 
and  in  old  German  accounts  we  often  read  of  how  the 
"  foredancer  "  would  dance  around  with  a  bowl  or  cup  on 
his  head.1  (The  leader  of  the  dance — or  "  foredancer  "- 
is  the  one  who  begins  the  dance  and  exhorts  the  others  to 
take  part ;  he  is  also  the  one  who  later  directs  it.)  We 
have  something  similar  to  this  in  the  North.  At  a  be- 
trothal in  Christiania  in  1637,  it  is  said  that  the  parish 
priest,  Master  Kjeld  Stub,  "  danced  in  public  with  a  glass 
in  his  hand  and  led  the  dance  "  ;  but  the  burgomaster, 
Laurids  Ruus,  jumping  up  from  his  seat,  picked  out  a 
partner  and,  holding  a  glass  in  his  hand,  ran  against 

1  Bohme,  Tanz,  p.  27. 


28  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Master  Kjeld  in  such  a  way  as  to  obstruct  and  break  up 
the  dance.  On  the  fifteenth  of  May  of  the  same  year  a 
royal  mandate  was  issued  to  the  bishops  in  which  the 
priests  were  admonished  to  lead  a  more  Christian  life, 
and  to  abstain  from  drunkenness  and,  among  other  things, 
"  from  dancing  with  a  glass  in  the  hand  and  such  worldly 
indecencies."  * 

Let  us  now  see  whether  our  ballads  do  not  make  some 
reference  to  the  beginning  of  the  dance.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  our  popular  ballads  are  not  lyrical  in  nature, 
nor  do  they  voice  the  usual  expressions  of  the  singer's 
emotions.  This  subject  I  shall  discuss  more  fully  later 
on ;  here  I  venture  to  assume  the  general  character  of  the 
ballads  to  be  already  known :  namely,  that  they  contain, 
not  an  expression  of  lyrical,  subjective  feeling,  but  merely 
an  epical  narration  of  events.  Nevertheless  we  find  as 
a  general  rule  in  the  first  stanza  of  a  ballad  a  lyrical 
outburst ;  as,  for  instance,  in  "  The  Forced  Consent " 
(No.  75) : 

B  i .  Have  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  grief  is  deep, 
And  sorrow  reigns  in  our  breast ; 
He  who  bears  a  secret  sorrow, 
His  heart  is  ill  at  rest. 
Have  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  grief  is  deep. 

2.  Winters  fully  five  Sir  Peter 
Proud  Mettelille  did  woo  ; 
But  ever  she  put  off  her  answer, 
Though  yearly  he  did  sue. 
Have  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  grief  is  deep. 

1  TTieologisk  Tidsskrift,  published  by  Caspari  and  several  others,  II, 
463 ;  Ketilson,  Forordninger  for  Island,  II,  414. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      29 

As  we  see  here,  the  narrative  is  not  taken  up  until  the 
second  stanza,  or  even  until  the  third,  as  in  "  King 
Didrik  in  Birtingsland  "  (No.  8) : 

1.  The  king  rules  over  the  castle  tower, 

And  lords  it  over  land, 
And  many  a  gallant  champion  leads 

All  armed  and  sword  in  hand. 
While  the  king  rules  over  the  castle  tower. 

2.  Then  let  the  peasant  till  his  farm, 

His  horse  the  trooper  guide, 
The  king  of  Denmark,  he  alone, 

O'er  fort  and  tower  preside. 
While  the  king  rules  over  the  castle  tower. 

3.  King  Didrik  sits  in  Brattingsbord, 

Looks  over  land  and  sea ; 
"  I  know  not  one  in  all  this  world 
Dares  match  himself  with  me." 

(From  Prior's  "  Danish  Ballads.") 

In  this  ballad  the  story  begins  with  the  third  stanza  and 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  king  of  Denmark ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  deals  with  Didrik  and  other  champions.  These 
preliminary  stanzas  constitute  an  introduction  which  strikes 
the  keynote,  and  at  the  same  time,  in  both  of  the  examples 
quoted  above,  give  rise  to  the  refrain.1  One  more  case 
may  be  cited  from  "  The  Valraven  "  (No.  60) : 

The  raven  wings  his  flight  by  night, 
He  dares  not  stir  by  day ; 
111  luck  befalls  the  wretched  wight 
When  good  luck  says  him  nay. 
The  raven  wings  his  flight  by  night. 

1  Scattered  throughout  his  work,  as  well  as  in  the  preface  to  Part  III, 
will  be  found  Grundtvig's  opinions  on  the  subject  of  ballad  burdens. 


30          THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

The  maiden  stands  on  her  tower  high 
And  gazes  o'er  land  and  sea ; 
She  sees  the  wild  Valraven  winging 
His  way  o'er  mountain-side  and  lea. 
The  raven  wings  his  flight  by  night. 

Here  again  it  is  manifest  that  the  first  stanza  is  lyrical  in 
feeling  and  gives  shape  to  the  refrain. 

But  there  is  still  more  to  be  gathered  from  ballad 
refrains.  The  ballad  of  "  King  Birger's  Sister  Bengta  " 
(No.  155)  begins : 

I  dare  not  ride  by  the  light  of  day ; 

I  suffer  grief  and  pain  for  a  maiden  proud  and  gay, 

They  know  my  war  array. 

It  was  young  Sir  Laurids, 
Had  plighted  his  vows  to  his  love  so  dear ; 
She  spent  her  days  in  a  cloister  cell, 
And  heavy  sorrow  lay  him  near. 
They  know  my  war  array. 

In  the  first  stanza  it  is  "  I  "  that  speaks,  who  must  be  iden- 
tical with  Sir  Laurids,  the  knight  that  dares  not  ride  out  by 
day  because  he  is  pursued  and  his  shield  too  well  known. 
But  in  the  remainder  of  the  ballad  the  "  I  "  has  completely 
disappeared,  and  the  story  is  related  in  the  customary  third 
person.  Furthermore  it  will  be  noted  that  the  first  stanza 
or  refrain  has  an  entirely  different  meter  from  that  of  the 
ballad  proper.  This  has  often  escaped  the  notice  of  old 
collectors  and  editors,  who,  considering  the  verse  to  be 
defective,  have  made  alterations  in  it.  Accordingly  Peder 
Syv  has  dressed  up  the  foregoing  lines  into  the  following 
beautiful  version ! 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD  31 

I  will  not  ride  by  day 
Through  field  and  through  forest ; 
I  suffer  for  a  proud  young  maiden 
Both  grief  and  pain  the  sorest. 

As  another  example  may  be  cited   the  following  from 
"Proud  Signild  and  Queen  Sophie"  (No.  129): 

1.  The  lyke-wake  holds  to-night, 
He  wakes  whoever  will ; 

Proud  Signelil  wakes  alone  out  in  the  forest  green. 

2.  Proud  Signelil  hasted  to  her  mother  and  spake : 

—  He  wakes  whoever  -will — 

"  May  I  to-night  attend  the  wake  ?  " 

—  Proud  Signelil  wakes  alone  out  in  the  forest  green. 

From  "  King  Hakon's  Death  "  (No.  142) : 

It  now  has  come 
What  long  ago  was  foretold 
Of  Hakon,  the  holy  king ; 
Norway  a  captive  he  holds. 

From  "Marsk  Stig's  Daughter"  (No.  146) : 

The  king  sits  in  Kollen, 

—  Hey  /  the  rose  and  sweet  flowers  / 

The  king's  two  daughters  away  were  stolen. 

—  Nor  spake  they  a  word  of  their  native  towers. 

The  eldest  took  the  youngest  by  the  hand, 
And  so  they  journeyed  to  King  Sifrid's  land. 

Stanza  one  of  "  The  Betrothed  in  the  Grave  "  (No.  90) 
supplies  an  introduction  if  not  a  refrain  : 

I .  Three  maidens  sat  in  their  bower, 

Two  were  plaiting  gold ; 

The  third  bewailed  her  lover  dead, 

Lay  buried  beneath  the  mould. 
For  she  had  plighted  her  vows  to  the  knight. 


32  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

2.  It  was  the  rich  Sir  Aage, 

He  rode  by  the  salt  sea  strand ; 

He  wooed  and  won  young  Elselille, 

The  fairest  may  in  the  land. 
For  she  had  plighted  her  vows  to  the  knight. 

Here  the  first  stanza  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
narrative,  which  is  taken  up  at  the  second  ;  it  is  simply  an 
introduction  which  at  the  outset  pictures  the  sorrowing 
maiden  who  was  affianced  to  the  rich  young  knight. 

We  could  point  out  this  circumstance  in  a  score  of 
ballads.1  It  is  true  that  this  is  a  small  number  among 
so  many  hundreds.  But  we  may  rest  assured  that  many 
ballads  originally  possessed  such  a  stanza,  which  in  the 
course  of  time  has  gone  astray  because  one  no  longer 
understood  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  ballad,  or  which  has 
undergone  alteration  to  fit  the  usual  verse  form.  In  every 
case  this  opening  stanza  indicates  clearly  how  the  ballad 
used  to  be  rendered.  Between  the  introductory  and  the 
following  stanzas  there  exists  a  marked  contrast,  which 
appears  externally  in  the  different  rhythm  of  the  two 
parts,  and  internally  in  the  different  nature  of  the  subject 
matter.  The  introductory  stanza  is  often  lyrical  or  general 
in  content  and  suggests  the  mood ;  the  main  body  of  the 
ballad  is  narrative.  If  the  first  stanza  thus  differs  from 
those  that  follow,  on  the  other  hand,  it  stands  in  the 
closest  relation  to  the  refrain  of  the  ballad ;  it  even  gives 
up  one  of  its  lines  to  the  latter,  or  may  be  evolved  there- 
from. The  song  or  the  dance  begins  in  this  fashion  :  the 
singer  steps  forth,  holding  some  silver  vessel  in  his  hand  ; 
he  strikes  up  the  tune  and  bids  the  others  to  participate, 

1  Nos.  8,  32,  60,  67,  75,  83,  129,  132, 138, 155,  196,  202,  249,  261,  and 
several  unpublished  ballads. 


THE  DANCE  AND  THE  BALLAD      33 

the  proceeding  reminding  us  somewhat  of  the  well-known 
first  thirty-five  bars  of  Weber's  "  Invitation  to  the  Dance." 
The  mood  and  tune  which  he  has  set  afloat,  and  which  is 
naturally  identical  with  that  of  the  ballad  proper,  is  main- 
tained throughout  by  means  of  the  constantly  repeated 
refrain. 

In  case  a  ballad  contains  no  such  introductory  verse,  it 
invariably  begins  with  the  refrain.  It  is  not  likely  that  the 
singer  took  up  at  once  the  narrative.  This  we  can  infer 
from  the  fact  that  the  oldest  manuscript  copy  of  any  heroic 
ballad  in  our  possession—  "  The  Knight  transformed  into 
a  Hart "  (No.  67)  —  begins  as  follows  : 

I  spent  the  live-long  night  dreaming  of  a  maiden, 

It  was  Sir  Peter, 

He  bade  his  retainers  run : 

"  Could  ye  to  proud  Ose-lille 

And  get  me  speech  right  soon  ?  " 
I  spent  the  live-long  night  dreaming  of  a  maiden. 

There  is  found  also  another  ballad  copy  (Unpublished 
No.  156)  which  has  the  refrain  placed  at  the  beginning: 

I  know  a  maiden  in  our  land,  she  never  leaves  my  fancy. 

In  the  music  to  the  Faroese  "Song  of  Sigurd"  (Lyngbye's 
"  Faeroiske  Quaeder  "),  the  refrain  is  likewise  found  at  the 
beginning,  a  feature  that  is  in  accord  with  the  practice  of 
the  islanders  of  always  singing  the  refrain  first,  for  it  de- 
termined the  tempo  of  the  dance.  The  circumstance  that 
nearly  all  ballad  versions  place  the  refrain  after  the  first 
stanza  or  at  the  end  of  the  ballad  arises  from  the  fact  that 
here  in  every  case  was  its  proper  place.1 

1  Cf.  also  Grundtvig's  statement  to  P.  G.  Thorsen,  Om  Runernes 
Brug  til  Skrift  udenfor  det  monumentale,  p.  53. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  I 

Are  the  popular  ballads  lyrical  ?  That  these  songs  do 
not  voice  the  emotions  of  the  poet  himself  admits  of  no 
question ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that 
they  are  expressive  to  the  highest  degree  of  the  inner, 
emotional  life.  A  consideration  of  their  subject  matter 
makes  evident  that  the  ballads  are  nothing  more  than 
tales  which  recount  incident  and  action,  either  past  or 
present.  A  consideration  of  their  spirit,  however,  reveals 
to  us  that  it  is  not  mere  accident  which  omits  all  men- 
tion of  the  poet's  name  and  forces  the  singer  to  remain 
in  the  background.  And  however  much  the  ballad  may 
deal  with  strength  and  heroic  deed,  with  faith  and  love, 
it  never  refers  to  these  attributes  and  virtues  as  ideas  and 
conceptions,  but  it  always  bodies  forth  such  abstractions  in 
the  plastic  figures  of  the  actors.  Accordingly  all  subjec- 
tivity is  eliminated,  the  objectivity  of  the  narrative  forbids 
an  alliance  with  the  thoughts  and  impulses  of  the  poet 
himself.  Emotion  never  gets  the  upper  hand  of  narra- 
tion ;  the  poet  is  not  given  to  restless  moods,  nor  does 
he  linger  over  his  own  sorrows.  The  imagination  of  the 
audience  is  concerned  with  action  —  and  yet  the  ballad 
always  awakens  a  peculiar  feeling,  a  distinctive  mood. 
This  was  precisely  the  intention  of  the  narrative.  But  it 
brings  this  about  so  unobtrusively  that  we  fail  to  note  the 

34 


THE  I  35 

design,  and  consequently  we  are  aware  of  no  discord. 
Thus  far  the  lyric  and  the  epic  blend  together  in  the 
ballad ;  and  even  a  didactic,  a  corrective,  an  admonitory 
tone  may  insensibly  find  its  way  into  the  ballad's  epic 
mode  of  narration.  No  matter  how  great  the  variety,  how 
numerous  the  moods  and  tones,  the  chords  and  harmonies 
that  characterize  our  ballads,  individually  they  bear  no  im- 
press of  any  one  poet.  The  artist  is  here  responsible  for 
nothing.  It  is  as  if  emotion  had  not  yet  learned  to  express 
itself  without  the  aid  of  narration.  Only  at  a  later  date 
did  the  lyric  element  diffuse  itself  through  the  ballads.  In 
accordance  with  the  demands  of  the  prevailing  taste,  lyrical 
variations  were  woven  into  certain  ballads  as  ornaments ; 
they  were  even  shifted  from  ballad  to  ballad.  Gradually 
there  arose  erotic,  satiric,  didactic,  and  allegorical  ballads, 
—  but  at  this  point  we  are  wholly  within  the  period  of  the 
Reformation,  the  period  of  the  Renaissance  in  the  North. 
The  distinctive  qualities  of  our  ballads  can  be  thrown 
into  clearer  relief  if  we  institute  a  comparison  with  the 
medieval  folk  songs  of  Germany.  In  going  through  one 
of  the  many  collections  of  these  songs,  we  shall  meet 
with  such  a  love  song  as  the  following,  which  is  older 
than  1400  :  A11  mein  Gedenken,  die  ich  ban, 

die  sind  bei  Dir, 

Du  auserwahlter  einger  Trost 

bleib  stets  bei  mir.  .  .  . 

or  this  one,  which  antedates  1500  : 
Ach  hertzigs  Hertz, 
mein  Scbmertz 
erkennen  thu ! 
Ich  hab  kein  Rub 
nach  Dir  steht  mein  Verlangen.  .  .  . 


36  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

On  the  whole,  some  of  the  most  beautiful  flowers  of  Ger- 
man folk  poetry  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  to  be  found  in 
these  love  songs.  The  following  charming  little  verse 
came  into  being  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century : 1 

Du  bist  min,  ich  bin  din, 
des  soltu  gewis  sin. 
Du  bist  beslozzen 
in  minen  herzen ; 
verloren  ist  das  sluzzelin : 
du  muost  immer  dar  inne  sin. 

There  likewise  belongs  to  this  period  a  great  variety  of 
Tagelieder,  in  which  lovers  give  utterance  to  their  grief  at 
having  to  part  when  day  breaks  upon  them ;  also  Wdchter- 
lieder,  of  similar  nature,  in  which  the  watchman,  seeing 
daylight  at  hand,  warns  the  lovers  that  it  is  time  to  part : 

Wohlauf,  Wohlauf,  mit  lauter  Stimm 
thut  uns  der  Wachter  singen. 

These  Tagelieder  were  probably  original  with  the  Minne- 
singers ;  but  by  the  thirteenth  century  they  had  made 
their  way  into  the  ranks  of  the  populace,  where  they  be- 
came the  property  of  all  classes  and  passed  from  hand  to 
hand.  Furthermore  we  find  songs  dealing  with  nature, 
such  as  the  following  dance  at  the  appearance  of  the 
first  violet,  which  is  from  the  fourteenth  or  the  fifteenth 
century  :  Der  MeyC)  der  Meye 

bringt  uns  der  Bliimlein  viel.  .  .  . 

and  the  following,  which  antedates  1467  : 

Es  ist  ein  Schnee  gefallen, 
und  es  ist  doch  nit  Zeit, 
man  wirft  mich  mit  dem  Ballen, 
der  Weg  ist  mir  verschneit. 

1  Godeke,  Grundrisz  z.  Geschichte  d.  d.  Dichtung,  2d  ed.,  I,  48. 


THE  /  37 

Other  songs  that  are  met  with  are  farewell  songs,  wan- 
derers' songs,  riddle  songs,  wager  songs,  wishing  songs, 
lansquenet,  knight,  and  soldier  songs,  vocation  songs, 
such  as  the  fliting  song  between  a  nobleman  and  a  peasant 
(thirteenth  century),  a  student  song  from  1454  : 

ich  weisz  ein  frisch  Geschlechte, 

das  sind  die  Burschenknechte  (Burs,  i.e.  college) 

ihr  Orden  steht  also : 

sie  leben  ohne  Sorge 

den  Abend  und  den  Morgen 

sie  sind  gar  statclich  froh.  .  .  . 

and  finally  spiritual  songs  and  historical  ballads.1 

For  parallels  to  the  greater  part  of  what  is  cited  above 
one  will  search  in  vain  our  great  store  of  ballad  poetry  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  For  us  lyric  poetry  in  its  entirety  was  per- 
fected abroad ;  at  least  no  evidence  to  the  contrary  has 
come  down  to  us.  On  the  other  hand,  we  possess  an  ex- 
tensive collection  of  songs  concerning  heroes,  or,  more 
properly,  "  heroic  ballads,"  while  Germany  can  lay  claim 
to  very  few.  Nor  can  the  latter  country  point  to  any  com- 
prehensive body  of  songs  dealing  with  magic,  or  to  any 
wide  range  of  love  ballads.2  The  North  has  long  been  the 

1  During  the  war  which  has  been  waged  in  Germany  the  past  few 
years  over  the  oldest  popular  poetry  and  its  relation  to  "  die  hbfische 
Dichtung"  (which  had  its  origin  in  the  twelfth  century),  it  has  been 
admitted  by  all  that  there  existed  previous  to  the  Minnesingers  a  folk 
poetry  with  a  subjective,  lyrical  stamp.    On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
generally  agreed  whether  this  folk  poetry  had  a  very  great  accepta- 
tion, and  the  question  has  arisen,  Did  this  folk  poetry  furnish  a  model 
for  the  Minnesongs,  or  did  the  latter  evolve  directly  from  the  folk 
poetry?  See  Zeit.f.  d.  Altertum,  XXVII,  343  ff.,  XXIX,  121  ff.,  XXXIV, 
146  ff. ;  Zeit.f.  d.  Pkilologie,  XIX,  440  ff. ;   Germania,  XXXIV,  I  ff. 

2  Talvj  (Mrs.  Robinson),  Charakteristik  der  Volkslieder,  pp.  389  ff. ; 
Bohme,  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,  pp.  xxviii  ff. 


38  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

home,  as  it  were,  of  a  serious,  gloomy,  often  demoniacal, 
species  of  poetry,  which  refused  to  be  deposed  by  the  cul- 
ture of  the  South  or  by  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Not- 
withstanding the  large  number  of  popular  songs  of  a  ballad 
or  romantic  nature  that  is  native  to  Germany,  Goethe  was 
not  wrong  in  his  observation  that  this  kind  of  poetry  would 
not  have  flourished  with  his  German  forefathers.1 

In  the  Danish  ballads  we  find  more  or  less  prominent 
an  erotic  element,  a  moral  questioning,  a  sentiment  for 
nature ;  but  in  an  objective  sense  something  always  hap- 
pens, action  is  always  present.  With  the  riddle  songs  of 
Germany  mentioned  above,  we  might  well  compare  what 
is  of  a  similar  nature  in  the  Icelandic  riddle  poems  "  Vaf- 
prudnismal,"  "  Alvissmal,"  "Fjolsvinnsmal,"  and  Hervor's 
and  Heidrek's  sagas.  In  the  ballad  of  "  Svend  Vonved  " 
(No.  1 8)  we  see  also  a  series  of  riddles  propounded  and 
solved ;  but,  mind  you,  as  a  component  part  of  the  action. 
Though  a  large  number  of  historical  ballads  have  grown  up 
on  German  soil,  yet  they  all  date  from  the  conclusion  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  They  differ  from  the  Danish  historical 
ballads,  which  are  also  considerable  in  number —  over  three- 
score—  and,  in  addition,  of  the  highest  worth,  in  that 
they  are  more  political,  or  inclined  to  talk  politics,  and 
hence  composed  from  a  definite  standpoint  and  with  a 
definite,  practical  end  in  view.  It  is  also  apparent  that  the 
subjective  element  is  a  prominent  feature  of  the  German 
ballads.  Moreover,  whereas  the  latter  are  short,  very 
frequently  being  an  outburst  of  only  a  couple  of  stanzas, 
or,  at  the  most,  of  five  or  six,  our  ballads  are  long,  seldom 
numbering  fewer  than  twenty  stanzas,  and  often  many 

1  Bohme,  Liederbuch,  pp.  xxviii  ff. 


THE  7  39 

more.  And  finally,  whereas  the  German  ballads  generally 
sing  of  "ein  Fraulein,"  "  ein  Jiinglein,"  our  ballads 
almost  invariably  attach  specific  names  to  the  personages, 
such  as  "  Little  Kirstin,"  "  Proud  Elselil,"  "  The  Lady 
Mettelil,"  "  Sir  Ove,"  "  Sir  Peter,"  "  Sir  Lauge  Stison,"  etc. 
How  near  we  came  to  having  erotic  lyric  poetry  may 
be  seen  from  the  following  poem,  which  dates  from  the 
Middle  Ages.1 

Love's  true  worth  with  song  and  mirth 

I  shall  never  cease  to  honor ; 

A  flower  I  know  well  whose  name  I  '11  ne'er  tell, 

But  praise  I  shall  heap  upon  her. 

Of  all  others  she  beareth  the  prize, 

Prudent,  faithful,  virtuous,  wise, 

And  loyal  beyond  them  all. 

As  the  stars  all  pale  in  the  light  of  the  sun, 

So  pale  before  this  peerless  one 

Women  from  thorp  and  hall. 

Heia,  heia, 
Would  that  she  gave  me  a  call. 

Although  the  subject  of  this  poem  is  not  of  earthly  origin, 
although  the  maiden  is  not  a  mortal  maiden,  but  the  Virgin 
Mary,  yet  we  should  not  hesitate  to  regard  such  a  mode 
of  expression  as  belonging  to  lyrics  of  love.  Still  a  com- 
parison between  this  poem  and  the  manner  of  erotic  ex- 
pression to  be  found  in  our  ballads  cannot  help  but  be 
instructive  as  showing  how  the  more  conscious  and  learned 
poet  (in  this  case  the  monk  Peder  Reff  Little)  strikes  a 
tone  that  is  several  octaves  higher  than  that  of  the  popular 
ballads,  and  adorns  his  execution  with  shakes  and  runs  that 
are  quite  foreign  to  the  naive  utterance  of  the  simple  ballad. 

1  Brandt  and  Ilclveg,  Den  danske  Psalmedigtning,  I,  x. 


40  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

With  a  few  exceptions,  the  characteristics  of  the  Danish 
ballads  as  sketched  above  hold  good  also  of  the  other 
Scandinavian  lands.  With  respect  to  Sweden,  however,  I 
may  add  that  not  only  is  her  store  of  ballad  material  much 
less  comprehensive  than  ours,  but  also  that  as  early  as  the 
fifteenth  century  there  began  to  appear  both  a  more  artifi- 
cial kind  of  poetry,  which  could  be  ascribed  to  definite 
authors  (for  example,  Bishop  Thomas),  and  a  ballad  poetry 
that  was  political  and  satirical.1 

Leaving  the  subject  of  general  characteristics,  we  shall 
now  seek  to  determine  just  how  far  the  ballads  are  imper- 
sonal, just  how  far  the  poet  and  singer  remain  concealed. 

I.   A  BALLAD  WILL  I  SING  TO  YOU 

Every  one  knows  how  the  modern  street  songs  begin 
with  a  verse  which  resembles  very  closely  that  which  we 
meet  with  in  ballad  No.  86  : 

A  ballad  will  I  sing  to  you, 
Which  many  a  time  I  have  sung, 
All  how  the  lovely  Lady  Margaret 
Was  loved  by  Sir  Flores  Bendiktson. 

Every  one  surely  knows  also  that  this  is  not  the  way  our 
ballads  usually  begin.  In  this  particular  ballad  of  "  Flores 
and  Margaret,"  the  above  verse  is  found  in  a  number  of 
versions ;  but  this  ballad  belongs  to  the  so-called  ballads  of 
romance,  "  which  give  us  a  picture,  not  of  the  actual  life 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  but  of  the  taste."  They  could  better 
be  designated  as  echoes  of  the  romances  of  chivalry.  That 

1  Hylten-Cavallius  and  G.  Stephens,  Sveriges  historiska  och  politiska 
visor;  H.  Schiick,  Svensk  Literaturhistoria,  pp.  119  ff. 


THE  7  41 

they  date  from  a  late  period  scarcely  needs  proof.  I  shall 
later  touch  more  intimately  upon  their  characteristics. 

The  same  introductory  verse  appears  in  several  copies 
of  "  The  Cloister  Robbery  "  (No.  476) : 

1.  A  ballad  will  I  sing  to  you, 
Come  listen  to  my  song, 

All  how  the  young  Sir  Morten 
A  lovely  maiden  won. 

2.  Sir  Morten  wooed  the  maiden  Lisbeth, 
Virtuous  she  was  and  fair ; 

Much  it  vexed  the  knight's  friends 
That  she  lacked  riches  rare. 

In  conformity  with  the  general  practice  of  ballad  introduc- 
tions, the  oldest  copy  of  the  ballad  begins  with  the  second 
of  the  above  stanzas.  Accordingly  the  first  stanza  should 
be  omitted  on  account  of  both  its  extreme  plainness  and  the 
absence  of  traditional  warrant. 

We  meet  this  verse  again  in  a  ballad  whose  age  is 
known,  namely,  No.  172,  "King  Christian  of  Denmark 
in  Sweden"  (1520),  which  is  preserved  in  a  manuscript 

of  1550: 

1 .  Come  listen  to  my  song, 
A  ballad  will  I  sing  to  you 

Of  King  Christian,  the  high-born  prince, 
To  whom  all  honor  is  due. 

2.  There  one  wrote  MD  (i.e.  1500) 
And  also  the  eighteenth  year, 

At  Helsingborg  in  Skaane  the  king 
He  bade  his  folk  appear. 

23.  Attend  to  me  yet  awhile 
And  hear  what  it  is  about ; 
Good  Friday  they  did  them  all  to  Upland, 
There  a  marvellous  play  fell  out. 


42  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

30.  Praised  be  God,  our  Father  in  Heaven, 
The  Danish  men  the  glory  have  won ! 
God  give  us  rest  in  Heaven  at  last, 
With  Him  to  dwell  forever  at  one. 

Such  stanzas  as  the  above  are  downright  jarring  on  the 
ear,  so  striking  is  their  departure  from  the  usual  ballad 
style.  All  this  harangue,  this  learning,  this  direct  appeal 
to  the  audience  is  utterly  foreign  to  the  style  of  other  bal- 
lads. Such  stanzas  are  therefore  extremely  significant  for 
showing  how  people  composed  about  1 5  20,  and  how  they 
did  not  compose  in  the  Middle  Ages.  This  species  of 
introductory  verse  clearly  belongs  to  a  later  date  and  to  a 
pseudo-popular  ballad  literature. 

It  is  invariably  the  case  that  such  verses  are  late  addi- 
tions to  ballads  and  not  part  and  parcel  of  them  originally. 
A  similar  verse  is  found  in  four  out  of  the  five  copies  of 
"  Knud  of  Borg"  (No.  195).  The  fact  that  it  is  not  found 
in  the  Norse  version  led  Landstad  to  remark  that  its 
presence  in  the  Danish  versions  indicated  "  its  recent 
origin."  It  turns  up  again  in  one  of  the  five  Icelandic 
versions,  and  also  in  ballad  No.  212  (Abr.) ;  but  in  the 
latter  instance  it  is  wanting  in  the  oldest  text  and  also  in 
the  Icelandic  form. 

Accordingly  we  may  safely  affirm  that  no  genuine 
popular  ballad  begins  with  the  announcement  that  the 
singer  will  now  sing  a  ballad.  Long  ago  an  excellent 
critic  made  a  similar  observation  in  connection  with  the 
Swedish  ballads.  Talvj  (pseudonym  of  Mrs.  Robinson) 
stated  that,  as  far  as  she  knew,  not  a  single  Swedish, 
and  only  two  Danish,  ballads  began  in  the  manner  popu- 
lar with  singers :  "  Ich  will  euch  eine  Weise  singen,"  or 


THE  7  43 

"  Kommt  all'  im  Kreis  und  hort  mir  zu,"  etc.,  as  do  so 
many  English  and  German  ballads.1 

In  this  connection  the  concluding  stanza  and  its 
peculiarity  may  be  discussed.  "  Sir  Stig's  Wedding " 
(No.  76  B)  has  this  ending : 

Safe  and  sound  from  hurt  and  harm, 

Sir  Stig  sleeps  nightly  on  Regisse's  arm.   . 

Stig  Lilies'  ballad  is  now  at  an  end : 
May  God  in  Heaven  His  grace  us  send ! 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  first  of  the  two 
stanzas  just  quoted  forms  the  conclusion  of  a  large  number 
of  our  ballads.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  plain  that  the 
second  is  sheer  fabrication ;  it  occurs  only  in  texts  B  and 
F,  texts  that  were  not  recorded  until  1600.  In  some  of 
the  other,  versions,  which  belong  in  part  to  manuscripts 
older  than  1600,  this  last  stanza  is  wanting.  "  Sir  Bugge's 
Death  "  (No.  158)  reads  in  conclusion  : 

D  35.  He  ruled  in  Hald  a  year  or  so, 
More  than  this  I  cannot  say. 

This  clumsy  verse  appears  in  only  one  of  the  four  texts, 
and  this  text  belongs  neither  to  Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manu- 
script of  1550  nor  to  Sten  Miller's  manuscript  of  1555. 
Text  B  of  "  King  Birger's  Sister  Bengta  "  (No.  155)  has 
this  ending : 

46.  A  ballad  of  these  two 
I  shall  no  longer  sing, 
I  trust  they  are  at  rest  in  Heaven 
And  dwell  with  Heaven's  King. 

1  Talvj,  Versuch  einer  geschichtlichen  Charakteristik  der  Volkslieder 
germanischer  Nationen,  p.  340. 


44  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

This  text  is  "an  uncalled-for  revision  of  a  genuine  copy," 
whereas  "  only  A  can  lay  claim  to  being  genuine  "  ;  in  A 
we  do  not  find  this  stanza.  All  in  all,  these  concluding 
stanzas  of  so  unpoetic  a  character  point  to  a  late  period. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  ballad  openings.  There  are  a 
number  of  ballads  which  would  seem  to  introduce  the  /of  the 
singer  into  the  ballad  somewhat  indirectly.  One  will  perceive, 
however,  that  this  is  merely  a  question  of  the  same  conditions 
which  I  have  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  refrain.  In 
a  remarkably  guileless  manner  both  the  singer  and  the  audi- 
ence are  ushered  into  the  middle  of  events  by  a  stanza  such 
as  the  following  from"  German  Gladensvend"  (No.  33  B,C): 

I.  Our  king  and  his  young  queen 
They  sailed  them  over  the  sea, 
They  found  their  ship  held  fast  in  the  waves, 
And  no  breeze  to  set  them  free. 

Here,  however,  the  our  is  perhaps  an  interloper ;  a  text 
equally  old  and  another  somewhat  younger  have  "  The 
king  and  queen  of  Denmark." 

Again  we  read  in  "  Find  Lille  "  (No.  123) : 

3.  He  summons  the  king  and  all  his  men  : 
Our  fair  young  queen  shall  follow  them. 

Since  this  verse  is  found  only  in  Magdalena  Barnewitz's 
manuscript  of  1650,  and  is,  in  addition,  borrowed  from 
"  Sir  Stig's  Wedding  "  (No.  76) : 

A  48.  He  summons  the  king  and  all  his  men  : 

The  Danish  queen  home  must  follow  them, 

its  testimony  is  of  little  worth.  In  "  The  Knight  trans- 
formed into  a  Bird  "  (No.  68)  the  first  verse  runs  : 

There  lives  a  maiden  in  our  land 
Denies  the  suit  of  every  man. 


THE  I  45 

So  in  versions  B  and  C,  which  belong  to  manuscripts  of 
1650  and  after;  whereas  the  other  five  versions,  among 
them  A  of  1550,  do  away  with  otir.  In  "Proud  Elin's 
Revenge  "  (No.  209),  from  Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript, 
is  met  this  opening  stanza  : 

1.  It  was  the  bold  Sir  Renold, 
Rode  by  the  salt  sea  strand, 

He  wooed  Sir  Bunde's  daughter, 
The  fairest  in  the  land. 

2.  He  wooed  Sir  Bunde's  daughter, 
He  led  her  home : 

The  king  and  our  archbishop 
With  them  did  come. 

This  our  seems  to  have  intruded  itself  a  number  of  times 
into  late  forms  of  ballads  ;  its  presence  may  be  explained, 
however,  by  the  desire  of  the  singer  to  plunge  his  audience 
into  the  thick  of  events  right  at  the  beginning  of  the  ballad. 
This  is  further  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  in  certain  ballads 
we  find  the  refrain  closely  bound  up  with  the  opening 
stanza.  Compare  the  beginning  of  "  Olaf  and  Asser 
White  "  (No.  202) : 

There  stands  without  our  castle-gate 
Many  a  noble  knight ; 
There  are  two  maidens  fair  within, 
Of  love  they  think  but  light. 

Sir  Olaf  and  Sir  Asser  White 
They  bade  their  pages  run : 
"  Do  ye  to  those  maidens  fair, 
And  get  us  speech  right  soon." 
There  are  two  maidens  fair  within. 

The  refrain  grows  out  of  the  first  of  these  two  stanzas. 


46  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Equally  significant  are  the  opening  stanzas  in  version  C 
(Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript)  of  "  The  Forced  Con- 
sent" (No.  75)  : 

1 .  I  heard  a  knight  in  my  lady's  bower, 
And  they  were  seated  at  play, 

Of  gold  the  table  and  red  gold  the  dice, 
And  he  wooed  the  maiden  gay. 
No  one  can  with  her  compare. 

2.  "  Hear  my  suit  my  lady  fair, 
Nor  grace  from  me  withhold ; 
And  you  shall  wear  the  scarlet  fine 
And  shoes  of  the  ruddy  gold." 

No  one  can  with  her  compare. 

Thus  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  such  an  opening  is  merely 
an  overture,  an  introduction  to  the  tale  which  assures  the 
audience,  as  it  were,  that  he  who  sings  and  relates  was  an 
eye-witness  of  the  event.  Another  form  of  ballad  structure 
opens  up  with  the  refrain  : 

B  i.  Have  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  grief  is  deep 
And  sorrow  reigns  in  our  breast ; 
He  who  bears  a  secret  sorrow, 
His  heart  is  ill  at  rest. 
Have  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  grief  is  deep. 

The  examples  cited  above  by  no  means  conflict,  as  will  be 
evident,  with  my  former  assertion  that  the  personality  of 
the  singer  never  fills  the  foreground  of  the  ballad  ;  I  have 
shown  above  that  it  also  counts  for  nothing  in  this  re- 
spect when  the  singer  steps  out  in  front  and,  with  cup 
raised  aloft,  leads  the  song  and  dance.  And  it  is  in  the 
same  light  that  we  are  to  regard  his  appearance  here  in  the 
first  stanza. 


THE  I  47 

Meanwhile  it  will  prove  instructive  to  note  the  length 
to  which  the  introductory  portions  of  ballads  attain.  The 
"  Combat  with  the  Worm  "  (No.  24)  begins  as  follows  : 

1.  When  that  I  was  a  little  boy 
Herding  the  cattle  and  sheep ; 
I  found  a  little  spotted  snake 
Gliding  through  the  grasses  deep. 

And  she  bore  the  prize  from  all. 

2.  I  lifted  up  the  spotted  snake, 

And  wrapped  it  in  a  mantle  around ; 
To  Helsing's  daughter  at  Lundegaard 
I  made  a  gift  of  what  I  found. 

3.  "  A  thousand  thanks,  my  bonny  boy, 

A  thousand  thanks  for  the  gift  you  gave ; 
I  '11  ne'er  forget  what  I  owe  to  you 
If  e'er  a  boon  you  crave." 

4.  She  fed  the  snake  the  winter  through 
And  winters  fully  three,  etc. 

Only  at  this  point  begins  the  tale  of  the  snake  and  the 
maiden  ;  the  peasant  lad  disappears  completely  from  view. 
The  snake  grows  up  into  a  loathsome  monster,  which 
keeps  the  maiden  a  prisoner.  Her  father  promises  that 
he  who  slays  the  monster  shall  have  his  daughter  to  wife. 
The  first  to  attempt  the  feat,  Sivard  Ingvordson,  fails  out- 
right. Then  Peder  Riboltson  presents  himself,  and,  pro- 
tected by  a  bull's  hide  smeared  with  tar,  succeeds  in  killing 
the  snake  and  winning  the  maiden. 

Similar  in  nature  are  the  introductory  portions  of  several 
ballads  in  which  the  singer  intimates  that  his  song  and 
story  are  based  on  experience,  or  in  which  he  practically 
inquires  whether  they  have  heard  the  same  story.  To  this 


48  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

class  belong  those  ballads  in  which  the  singer  affirms  (as 
in  No.  22),  "  It 's  talked  of  far  and  near  "  that  such  and 
such  a  thing  has  happened ;  or,  as  in  "  King  Hakon's 
Death  "  (No.  142),  "  It  now  has  come  what  long  ago  was 
foretold."  Then  the  narrative  proper  is  taken  up.  Here 
we  must  also  assign  "  Niels  Paaskeson  and  Lave  Brok  " 
(No.  164),  which  besings  an  event  dating  from  1468. 
Before  relating  how  Lave  Brok  slew  Niels  Paaskeson,  the 
singer  sets  forth  how  the  Paaskesons,  a  merchant  family 
in  Randers,  built  such  a  dwelling  that  the  castles  of  the 
nobility  were  all  dwarfed  in  comparison. 

1.  The  Paaskesons  have  built  a  house 
In  the  middle  of  Randers'  street ; 
In  all  my  days  so  high  a  house 
My  eyes  did  never  meet. 

Paaskesons''  house  tops  the  castles. 

2.  One  finds  within  this  same  house 
Stories  fifteen  in  all ; 

The  knobs  are  of  the  red,  red  gold, 
They  shine  o'er  croft  and  wall. 

3.  One  finds  within  this  same  house 
Fifteen  doors,  stout  and  strong ; 
Never  yet  saw  I  such  a  house 

In  all  my  life  so  long. 

4.  One  finds  within  this  same  house 
Both  mead  and  cider  good ; 
One  finds  within  this  same  house 
Five  winters'  fill  of  food. 

5.  It  was  Niels  Paaskeson, 

He  strides  down  Randers'  street,  etc. 

Herewith  the  story  runs  on  in  the  usual  narrative  style. 


THE  I  49 

II.  MONOLOGUE  WITHIN  THE  BALLAD 

Several  of  our  ballads  present  further  peculiarities.  As 
every  one  knows,  the  style  of  narrative  usually  in  vogue 
with  the  ballad  is  akin  to  that  of  the  epic ;  that  is,  the  singer 
stands  in  an  impersonal  relation  to  the  events  of  his  story, 
intruding  neither  himself  nor  his  own  conclusions  into  his 
verse.  This  last  consideration  affects  also  the  actors  in  the 
ballad,  who,  to  a  large  extent,  are  made  to  speak  only  so  far 
as  their  speeches  forward  the  requisite  dramatic  effect.  But 
it  sometimes  happens  that  that  portion  which  in  one  ballad 
is  told  in  the  third  person,  in  another  is  put  into  the  mouth 
of  some  speaker,  who  at  a  certain  point  appears  upon  the 
scene.  "  The  picture  which  the  one  ballad  unrolls  before 
us  in  its  entirety,"  says  Grundtvig,  "  is,  in  the  second 
instance,  thrust  back  to  form  the  background.  In  the 
second  picture,  then,  the  spirited  life  and  stir  of  the  back- 
ground is  thrown  into  strong  relief  by  the  extreme  sim- 
plicity and  repose  of  the  foreground.  At  the  same  time, 
the  latter  forms  a  substantial  complement  to  the  action 
itself  "  (Grundtvig,  II,  390 ;  V,  289).  "  Ribolt  and  Guld- 
borg"  (No.  82)  tells  how  Ribolt,  having  carried  off  his 
truelove  Guldborg,  is  overtaken  by  her  father  and  brothers ; 
he  rights  manfully  with  them  until  Guldborg,  against  his 
injunction  not  to  speak  his  name  ("  name  him  to  death  "), 
calls  out :  "  Ribolt,  spare  my  youngest  brother  !  "  Upon 
this  he  loses  his  strength  and  receives  a  deadly  wound. 
Guldborg  herself  dies  shortly  afterwards.  "  Hildebrand 
and  Hilde  "  (No.  83)  relates  how  Hilde  sewed  her  seam 
so  recklessly  that  it  attracted  the  notice  of  the  queen,  who 
was  led  to  ask  where  her  thoughts  were.  Thus  she  learned 


50 

of  Hilda's  sorrow.  It  had  happened  with  Hilde  as  with 
Guldborg ;  she  had  called  to  Hildebrand  to  spare  at  least 
her  youngest  brother.  After  his  death  she  had  been  sold 
by  her  parents.  Then  the  ballad  goes  on  to  say : 

The  queen  then  spake  in  changed  tone, 
And  fast  the  tears  her  cheek  ran  down : 

"  Now  that  thy  sad  tale  is  done, 

Thy  lord  was  Hildebrand,  my  own  dear  son." 

Scarce  had  Hildelil  told  her  tale, 
When  at  the  foot  of  the  queen  she  fell. 

The  queen  in  her  heart  was  sad  and  wae, 
Dead  in  her  arms  proud  Hildelil  lay. 

In  the  above  ballad  the  story  is  set  in  a  frame,  which 
serves  to  isolate  the  narrator  from  his  audience,  despite  the 
fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  ballad  is  told  in  the  first  person. 
The  same  conditions  are  met  with  in  "The  Maiden 
transformed  into  a  Wolf"  (No.  55)  and  in  "The  Maiden 
transformed  into  a  Hind  "  (No.  58).  The  latter  tells  in  the 
third  person  how  Sir  Peder  kills  a  hart;  when  he  is  about 
to  flay  it,  he  finds  his  sister  within  the  skin,  who  relates  to 
him  how  her  wicked  stepmother  had  changed  her  succes- 
sively into  a  pair  of  scissors,  a  sword,  a  hare,  and  a  hind. 
Sir  Peder  cuts  his  little  finger  and  gives  her  blood  to  drink, 
whereby  she  is  retransformed  into  a  beautiful  maiden. 
In  revenge  they  cast  the  stepmother  into  a  spiked  barrel. 
The  same  story  is  found  in  "  The  Maiden  transformed 
into  a  Wolf"  (No.  55),  where  the  maiden  herself  relates 
how  she,  in  the  shape  of  a  wolf,  has  torn  her  stepmother 
to  pieces.  In  the  end  she  enters  a  cloister.  As  the  third 


THE  I  51 

set  of  parallels  may  be  mentioned  "  The  Bold  Sir  Nilaus' 
Reward"  (No.  270)  and  "  Redselille  and  Medelvold" 
(No.  271)  in  conjunction  with  "The  Son's  Sorrow"  (No. 
272).  The  first  two  recount  the  fortunes  of  a  maiden  who 
has  been  abducted.  In  the  journey  through  the  woods  she 
is  overtaken  by  the  pangs  of  childbirth.  She  dies  while 
her  lover  is  in  search  of  water.  When  he  finds  her  dead, 
he  slays  himself.  The  third  text  puts  the  story  into  the 
mouth  of  the  lover  himself  —  a  manifest  absurdity,  espe- 
cially when  it  appears  that  he  sings  in  conclusion : 

A  21.  I  set  my  sword  against  a  stone, 

Off  the  point  my  heart's  blood  ran  down. 

This  verse  is  impossible.  The  Icelandic,  Norse,  and  Swed- 
ish versions  represent  the  lover  as  narrating  the  story  to 
one  of  his  parents,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  following  Norse : 

Up  and  spake  his  father  then : 

"  Why  sittest  thou  so  still  and  wan  ? 

"  Your  noble  brethren  leap  and  run, 
But  ever  thou  sittest  still  and  wan." 

"  I  served  a  count  for  meat  and  fee, 
And  he  had  daughters  three,"  etc. 

When  he  had  told  his  tale  so  sad, 

In  his  father's  arms  he  fell  down  dead. 

An  exactly  parallel  situation  is  found  in  a  fourth  Danish 
ballad,  "The  Companion's  Grief"  (No.  273),  in  which  it 
is  a  comrade  who  asks  his  fellow  if  he  is  borne  down  by  a 
secret  sorrow.  The  latter  then  details  the  causes  of  his 
melancholy  and  dies  immediately. 

The  result  of  this  investigation  brings  out  that  a  couple 
of  ballads  are  characterized  by  monologue  spoken  by  the 


52  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

chief  personage,  and  furthermore  that  these  ballads  are 
supplemented  by  others,  which  incase  the  monologue  in 
a  setting  of  narration,  thus  allowing  the  third  person  to 
appear  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  the  ballad. 
Here  again  we  seem  to  be  reminded  that  narration  in  the 
first  person  is  not  in  favor  with  ballad  style,  that  it  is 
even  looked  upon  as  foreign,  and  that,  when  it  is  used  in 
isolated  cases,  it  is  made  a  part  of  the  story  itself. 

We  can  note  exactly  similar  characteristics  in  Old  Norse 
poetry.  As  an  exception  to  the  general  run  of  the  "  Elder 
Edda  "  may  be  named  the  second  "  Lay  of  Gudrun,"  in 
which  Gudrun  herself  tells  her  experiences.  Now  this  lay 
could  be  easily  transposed,  by  scarcely  more  than  chang- 
ing /  to  she,  into  a  form  analogous  to  the  other  lays,  since 
the  monologue  of  Gudrun  contains  in  direct  discourse  not 
only  her  own  words,  but  also  the  words  of  those  with  whom 
she  speaks.  As  was  pointed  out  by  Grundtvig,  the  orig- 
inal form  of  this  lay  was  doubtless  that  of  an  impersonal 
narrative  recited  by  the  poet.  Those  who  came  upon  the 
stage  spoke  in  their  own  persons.  The  lays  resembling 
most  closely  the  structure  of  this  lay  are  two  from  a  later 
period  —  - "  Oddrunargratr ' '  and  ' '  GuSrunarhvot ' ' ;  but  here 
we  have  in  the  introduction  the  situation  and  the  occasion 
of  the  retrospective  monologue,  which  then  follows  as  the 
main  body  of  the  recital.  And  in  this  monologue  none  of 
the  characters  speak  in  their  own  persons.  Narrative  in 
the  first  person  does  not  seem  to  have  become  prevalent 
until  later.1 

1  Svend  Grundtvig,  Udsigt  over  den  nordiske  Oldtids  heroiske 
Digtning,  pp.  79  ff. 


THE  I  53 

III.  THE  CHANGE  OF  NARRATOR  IN  THE  BALLAD 

A  number  of  ballads  present  the  curious  feature  of 
changing  the  person  of  the  narrator.  "  True  as  Gold  " 
(No.  254),  for  instance,  begins  with: 

A  i.  Early  in  the  morning  the  knight  rides  out 
To  chase  the  roe  and  the  deer ; 
I  found  a  maid  on  the  mountain-side, 
My  service  I  offered  to  her. 

Hereupon  the  /disappears,  leaving  behind  only  the  knight 
and  the  maiden.  In  B  and  C  we  have  the  stanza  : 

I  rode  me  out  in  the  morning  early 
To  chase  the  roe  and  the  deer ; 
I  found  a  maiden  under  a  linden, 
My  service  I  offered  to  her. 

In  the  stanza  that  follows  the  recital  deals  only  with  the 
young  man  and  the  maiden.  As  will  be  shown  later,  the 
ballad  is  borrowed  from  abroad ;  but  in  the  four  German 
and  the  one  Netherland  parallels  which  Grundtvig  cites, 
the  narrative  is  told  entirely  in  the  third  person. 

"  The  Maiden  transformed  into  a  Bird  "  (No.  56)  is 
an  account  of  how  a  maiden  was  metamorphosed  by  her 
wicked  stepmother,  first  into  a  hind,  and  then  into  a 
hawk,  and  her  attendant  maids  into  wolves.  Her  lover  is 
on  the  point  of  attempting  her  capture,  when  he  is  told 
that  he  cannot  hope  to  insnare  the  hawk  unless  he  offers 
as  a  bait  the  flesh  of  a  domesticated  animal.  He  there- 
upon cuts  a  slice  from  his  own  breast  and  gives  it  to  the 
hawk,  which  at  once  assumes  the  form  of  a  most  beauti- 
ful girl.  In  the  first  eight  stanzas  of  the  ballad  it  is  the 


54  THE  .MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

girl  herself  who  speaks ;  but  from  this  point  on  to  the  end 
the  recital  is  concerned  only  with  the  girl  and  the  hawk. 

i .  When  that  I  was  a  little  boy, 
My  mother  fell  sick  and  died ; 
My  father  rode  out  o'er  the  land, 
Brought  home  another  bride. 

8.  My  love  he  serves  at  the  court  of  the  king,  etc. 

15.  The  youth  he  cut  a  slice  from  his  breast 
And  hung  it  high  on  the  linden  tree ; 
Full  glad  was  she,  for  sore  was  her  need, 
And  flapped  her  wings  right  lustily. 

23.  The  youth  has  now  got  his  reward, 
Safely  has  he  won  from  harm ; 
At  night  he  sleeps  full  joyously 
Within  his  truelove's  arms. 

This  singularity  manifests  itself  in  several  texts  with  the  fol- 
lowing arrangement:  A  stanzas  1-8  7,  9-23  she;  B  1-8  /, 
9-24  she ;  C  i  /  (but  the  /  of  the  singer,  not  of  the 
maiden),  the  remainder  in  the  third  person ;  D  third  per- 
son throughout  except  in  2  ;  E  i  /  (of  the  young  man), 
2-8  he ;  F  1-16  /(of  the  maiden),  17-18  she. 

"The  Maiden's  Morning  Dream"  (No.  239)  tells  the 
story  of  a  girl  who  is  treated  rather  harshly  by  her 
maternal  aunt.  She  dreams  that  she  is  a  duck  in  the  pond 
of  the  Wendish  king ;  when  pressed  to  sell  her  dream  she 
refuses.  Immediately  the  Wendish  king  appears  on  the 
scene  and  demands  her  in  marriage  ;  this  is  consummated, 
despite  the  efforts  of  her  aunt  to  prevent  it.  Three  good 
texts  start  out  with  the  narration  in  the  first  person  (A  1-4, 
B  1-3,  D  i,  2)  and  then  change  to  the  third  person,  which 
carries  it  on. 


THE  I  55 

"  Folke  Algotson  "  (No.  180)  relates  how  a  young  man 
carries  out  the  request  of  his  truelove  to  arrive  on  the  scene 
in  time  to  prevent  her  marriage  to  another.  At  the  proper 
moment  thirty  youths  clad  in  mail  appear  on  the  spot  and 
carry  off  the  bride.  The  different  copies  of  this  ballad 
present  the  greatest  variations:  B  I,  26-29  third  person, 
4-25  /;  G  1-3,  9-16  third  person,  4-8  /;  H  (from  1650) 
1-3  third,  4-12  /;  I  and  K  also  fluctuate;  and  D  (from 
Peder  Syv)  has  in  the  beginning  (1-4)  and  the  conclu- 
sion (23,  24)  the  first  person,  and  in  the  intervening  stan- 
zas (5-22)  the  third.  In  an  unpublished  ballad  (No.  46) 
we  likewise  find  an  /,  which  gradually  gives  way  to  he. 
Another  unpublished  ballad  (No.  299)  offers  us  two  old 
forms,  one  of  which  uses  the  third  person  throughout ; 
the  other  uses  the  first  up  to  the  middle  of  the  ballad, 
where  it  changes  over  to  that  of  the  maiden,  who,  by  the 
way,  comes  to  her  death. 

The  inference  that  ballads  so  constructed  would  not 
admit  of  singing  is  untenable  in  the  light  of  the  similarity 
presented  by  ballads  collected  in  our  own  day  by  the  school- 
master Kristensen.  For  instance,  in  "The  Faithless  Bride  " 
(Kristensen,  I,  No.  78  ;  II,  No.  54)  we  find  /  in  the  first 
part,  but  in  the  last  stanza  he.  In  "  The  Meeting  in  the 
Wood "  (Kristensen,  I,  No.  79 ;  Grundtvig,  No.  284) 
the  first  few  stanzas  are  told  in  the  words  of  the  actors 
themselves,  whereas  the  remainder  is  related  in  the  third 
person.  In  "The  Poacher"  (Kristensen,  II,  No.  6)  /runs 
through  all  the  twenty-two  stanzas  except  the  fifteenth ;  in 
this  instance,  however,  the  alteration  might  well  be  due 
to  a  lapse  of  memory,  which  so  often  has  disfigured  the 
original  aspect  of  a  ballad. 


$6  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  reply  to  the  question,  Which  of  the  two  forms  is  the 
older, — narration  or  monologue, — only  one  answer  is  pos- 
sible. The  simple  recital  of  events  that  have  befallen  others 
appears  to  be  far  more  natural  than  a  monologue,  which  is 
open  to  many  objections.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that  they 
contain  the  speeches  of  all  the  actors,  the  ballads  are  other- 
wise highly  dramatic  in  structure.  Although,  as  a  rule,  it 
is  not  said  who  is  speaking,  yet  it  is  never  a  matter  of 
doubt.  Now,  if  he  who  is  the  main  character  in  the  ballad 
is  at  the  same  time  the  narrator,  and  if  he  has  occasion  to 
speak  with  any  one  of  the  other  characters,  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult to  make  his  replies  appear  as  such, — namely,  to  make 
them  stand  out  distinct  from  his  narrative, —  unless  he  uses 
the  rather  unfortunate ' '  I  said . "  In  other  words,  the  dramatic 
force  of  the  ballad  is  ruined  and  the  impression  confused 
by  such  a  multitude  of  /'s.  Moreover  monologue  is  absurd 
when  a  tragic  end  awaits  the  singer,  since  it  is  manifestly 
impossible  for  a  person  to  tell  the  story  of  his  own  death. 
Accordingly  the  stanza  cited  above  in  "  The  Son's  Sorrow" 
(No.  272)  is  sheer  nonsense.  Such  a  novel  style  of  story- 
telling as  is  met  with  in  the  "Rimed  Chronicle,"  in  which 
each  king  relates  how  he  died  and  was  buried,  does  not  lend 
itself  to  imitation  in  a  song  which  has  a  musical  delivery. 

But  first  and  foremost  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
man's  natural  timidity  about  laying  bare  his  whole  history 
to  the  general  multitude,  especially  where,  as  in  the  bal- 
lads, it  is  a  case  of  exposing  his  innermost  feelings.  When 
Ingemann  decided  to  write  his  experiences,  he  sought 
a  mode  of  expression  that  would  permit  him  to  stand 
objectively  apart  from  his  life  and  to  look  back  upon  his 
career  as  though  it  were  terminated.  This  "  insulating 


THE  I  57 

stool,"  which,  by  permitting  him  to  overlook  his  past, 
would  vouchsafe  him  freedom  and  spare  him  confessional 
obligations,  he  discovered  at  last,  he  writes,  "  approximately 
by  just  using  he  for  /in  writing  about  himself." 

If  this  is  true  of  a  literary  artist  in  a  thoroughly  cultured 
period,  how  must  it  be  with  an  unsophisticated  singer  ap- 
pearing before  an  artless  folk  ?  Even  if  the  balladist,  unlike 
Ingemann,  does  not  precisely  relate  his  own  experiences, 
yet  he  knows  full  well  that  he  whom  these  things  did  be- 
fall would  have  been  reluctant  enough  to  speak  without 
the  aid  of  this  "  insulating  stool." 

"  The  simple  man,"  says  a  German  writer,  "  who  is 
wholly  possessed  by  an  emotion  that  demands  expression 
lacks  the  courage  to  body  it  forth  in  its  naked  reality ;  he 
is  ashamed  to  appear  as  suffering  from  the  force  of  his 
own  emotions.  Therefore  he  conceals  it  under  the  form 
of  a  simile  or  picture,  or  assuming  the  character  of  a 
dispassionate  narrator  he  employs  an  epic  situation  to 
give  vent  to  the  feelings  under  which  he  labors."  l  It  is 
precisely  on  this  basis  that  the  epic-lyric  romances  have 
become  the  most  accepted  form  for  all  folk  poetry,  and 
this  is  most  eminently  true  of  our  Danish  ballads.  When- 
ever these  deviate  from  that  form,  whenever  the  /  becomes 
predominant,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  such  cases 
to  be  exceptions.  We  can  well  understand  the  need,  which 
might  easily  have  arisen  even  when  the  /-form  of  narra- 
tion was  used,  of  concealing  the  face,  as  it  were,  by  letting 
what  was  told  take  the  shape  of  a  story  foisted  upon  some 
one  else  and  not  as  the  experiences  of  the  narrator,  —  who 
would  now  be  in  the  position  to  stand  by  as  an  auditor. 

1  Berger,  in  Zeit.f.  d.  Philologie,  XIX,  443. 


58  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  the  same  manner  we  may  explain  those  ballads  in 
which  /  gradually  and  unobtrusively  goes  over  into  he. 
In  certain  ballads  the  /  that  is  found  in  the  introductory 
stanza,  where  the  singer  himself  speaks,  or  where  he 
stands  in  some  definite  relation  to  the  action,  has,  to  be 
sure,  spread  improperly  throughout  the  entire  ballad.  But 
this  does  not  account  for  all  the  cases  where  there  is  an 
interchange  of  the  first  and  third  persons.  Nor  can  it  be 
assigned  to  chance  or  to  mistakes  in  writing  the  ballad 
down,  for  we  see  the  same  thing  obstinately  persisting  in 
the  songs  of  the  peasants  to-day.  Hence  there  seems  to 
be  no  other  alternative  possible  than  to  regard  it  as  a  pecu- 
liarity inherent  in  popular  poetry  and  in  artless  methods 
of  singing.  Children  and  negro  servants  exhibit  a  similar 
inclination  to  substitute  their  own  names  for  7.1  The  folk 
singer  never  obtrudes  himself,  and,  during  the  progress  of 
the  ballad,  he  always  remains  an  outsider.  And  it  is  well 
to  notice  that  the  shifting  of  persons  in  the  ballad  is 
always  from  the  first  to  the  third,  never  from  the  third  to 
the  first.  If  this  exchange  rested  upon  mere  caprice  or 
upon  a  faulty  memory,  the  reverse  phenomenon  would 
certainly  have  taken  place.  This,  however,  we  never  find. 

IV.  /  THROUGHOUT  THE  ENTIRE  BALLAD 

It  is  manifest  from  the  above  discussion  that  one  will 
have  to  search  a  long  time  before  he  finds  a  ballad  in 
which  the  singer  is  completely  merged  into  the  chief  char- 
acter. The  question  naturally  arises,  If  no  ballads  exist  in 
which  the  poet  has  composed  according  to  the  art  of  song 

1  Cf.  also  Jakob  Grimm,  Kleinere  Schriften,  III,  241  ff. ;  Burdach, 
in  Zeit.f.  d.  Altcrtum,  XXVII,  351. 


THE  7  59 

affected  by  modern  lyrics,  what  has  become  of  him  ?  The 
answer  does  not  admit  of  detail,  since  the  number  of  such 
ballads  is  very  small,  and  since  they  all  virtually  lead  to 
the  same  conclusions  that  have  been  already  reached. 

As  the  first  of  these  can  be  cited  "  Hedeby's  Ghost " 
(No.  91),  which  begins  as  follows  : 

1.  I  rode  abroad  till  eventide, 

I  tethered  my  steed  by  my  side. 

2.  I  laid  my  head  on  the  bent  so  brown, 
And  longed  right  sorely  for  slumber  sound. 

3.  The  sleep  that  first  did  seal  my  eyes, 
Before  my  view  a  corpse  did  rise. 

4.  "If  you  are  a  man  of  my  race, 
You  shall  set  to  rights  my  case." 

The  dead  man  goes  on  to  relate  how  his  wife  encompassed 
his  death,  how  she  lives  with  his  squire  as  a  mistress,  and 
how  she  humiliates  his  children.  Here  the  ballad  ends, 
being  only  a  fragment.  Several  versions  from  other  lands, 
however,  have  preserved  the  conclusion.  The  Norse  text, 
for  instance,  which  Bugge  heard  sung  in  Telemark  ("  Old 
Norse  Popular  Ballads,"  No.  15),  begins  with  /,  to  whom 
the  ghost  appears  and  relates  his  melancholy  tale ;  this  / 
is  changed  at  the  end  of  the  ballad  to  Herrepaer,  who 
wreaks  vengeance  on  Lady  Ingeborg. 

i.  I  walked  abroad  late  at  night,  etc. 

8.  An  angry  man  waxed  Herrepaer, 

And  from  the  wood  the  corpse  he  bore. 

9.  Herrepasr  cast  the  corpse  to  the  floor 
Pale,  then  black,  was  Ingeborg's  color. 

13.  They  buried  her  alive  under  a  stone. 


60  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

With  this  the  ballad  concludes.  The  dead  man  was  avenged 
and  the  wife  punished.  The  Norse  version  has  lost  its  sig- 
nificance for  our  purpose,  however,  for  it  will  be  noted  that 
it  employs  the  old,  familiar  device  of  starting  out  with  /, 
which  toward  the  end  gives  way  to  Herrepaer.  The  Swedish, 
German,  and  Slavic  versions,  moreover,  tell  the  story  in 
the  third  person.  The  source  of  the  Danish  version,  which 
is  found  only  in  Vedel's  collection,  is  not  known  to  us. 

Peculiarly  unique  is  the  highly  subjective  little  ballad 
of  "The  Young  Man's  Complaint"  (No.  53).  7  was 
banished  by  my  stepmother  during  my  father's  absence 
from  home ;  in  the  valley  lived  a  huge  serpent,  of  which 
7  was  much  afraid ;  7  saw  two  red  roses,  but  they  were 
uprooted  by  the  serpent ;  in  a  green  meadow  7  saw  a 
maiden  preparing  a  young  man's  bed  ;  under  the  coverlet 
7  found  my  brother  with  my  truelove  ;  7  went  away,  and 
on  a  green  stretch  of  land  7  came  upon  a  roebuck  play- 
ing with  a  roe ;  since  the  death  of  my  father  and  mother 
(but  note  that  the  father  was  still  alive  in  the  first  stanza) 
7  have  not  a  single  true  friend  left ;  "  the  more  I  mourn, 
the  less  relief  I  find."  Neither  Northern  nor  foreign 
parallels  exist  to  throw  light  upon  this  curious  ballad.  It 
tells  of  many  different  things  and  throws  out  occasional 
hints  and  allegorical  suggestions ;  but  these  are  only  half 
intelligible.  Its  main  drift  is  apparently  to  voice  the 
lowest  depths  of  pessimism,  a  feature  often  met  with  in 
ballads  dating  from  the  conclusion  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury (see  below).  The  oldest  manuscript  in  which  it  is 
found  belongs  to  the  age  of  Frederick  II. 

In  the  manuscript  of  Anna  Basse's  (c.  1600),  but  in 
no  other  place,  is  found  a  ballad  (Unpublished  No.  134) 


THE  7  61 

which  tells  how  /  arrived  at  a  castle,  where  /  was  well 
received  by  two  maidens  and  put  to  bed ;  one  of  them  lay 
down  by  my  side.  The  remarkable  thing  about  this 
meager,  worthless  fragment  is  that  the  majority  of  its 
verses  are  repeated  in  a  ballad  from  Arwidsson's  collec- 
tion (No.  147),  which  has  to  do  with  a  mountain  maid 
whose  singing  makes  the  streams  to  stop  and  listen.  This 
Swedish  version  belongs  to  the  class  of  fairy  hillock  bal- 
lads, and  accordingly  ends  with  the  well-known  verse,  that 
if  the  cock  had  not  flapped  his  wings,  the  young  man 
would  not  have  escaped  from  the  hill.  I  shall  revert  to 
the  fairy  hillock  ballads  shortly. 

"  The  Nightingale  "  (No.  57)  —  "I  know  well  where  a 
castle  stands" — is,  as  Grundtvig  pointed  out,  entirely 
wanting  in  popular  elements.  That  it  belongs  to  the 
seventeenth  or  eighteenth  century  will  be  shown  later. 
Another  ballad  (Unpublished  No.  171)  —  "I  dreamed  at 
night  as  I  lay  in  sleep,"  — which  has  affinities  with  a  lyric 
of  love,  is  a  translation  of  a  German  ballad  — "  Mir 
traumte  in  einer  Nacht  gar  spat." 

Schoolmaster  Kristensen  has  discovered  in  Jutland  a 
ballad  which  contains  rules  that  are  to  be  observed  by 
young  men  when  courting  (Kristensen,  II,  No.  27)  : 

i.  I  rede  you,  young  men,  come  learn  of  me 
What  to  do  in  the  bower  of  a  fair  lady. 

Hereupon  follows  a  deal  of  good  advice.  In  Anna  Urop's 
"Book  of  Ballads,"  from  1610,  there  is  found  a  similar 
ballad  with  directions  for  the  conduct  of  young  men ;  as, 
for  example, 

Clasp  her  fingers  gently,  draw  boldly  near ; 

If  thou  knowest  how  to  love,  she  will  hold  thee  dear. 


62  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

According  to  this  old  ballad,  it  is  the  young  man  who 
goes  to  his  foster-mother  and  asks  her  to  advise  him  how 
to  win  a  maiden.  In  a  Swedish,  and  also  in  a  Norse,  version, 
the  mother  gives  the  advice  to  the  son  as  he  is  about  to 
set  out  for  the  wedding  feast.  Here  we  see  again  how  the 
ballad  will  not  allow  direct  speech  to  run  through  the 
whole.  None  of  these  forms  can  be  traced  farther  back 
than  1610,  and  their  whole  character,  marked  as  it  is  by 
wide  departure  from  popular  ballad  style,  indicates  that 
the  ballad  itself  is  not  much  older.  Furthermore  some  of 
its  versions  are  borrowed  directly  from  German  ballads. 

A  noteworthy  exception  comes  to  light  in  "  The  Elf  en 
Hill"  (No.  46)  — "I  laid  me  down  on  an  elfen  hill." 
Here  we  have  before  us  virtually  a  subjective,  lyrical  bal- 
lad. Of  action  there  is  very  little.  A  youth,  enchanted 
with  the  dancing  of  an  elf  maid,  is  on  the  point  of  being 
lured  into  the  interior  of  the  hill,  when,  fortunately,  the 
flapping  of  the  cock's  wings  announcing  the  approach  of 
day  warns  the  maiden  that  she  must  flee.  Text  A  alone 
contains  the  additional  features  of  the  youth's  recognizing 
his  sister  in  the  elf  maid,  and  of  her  counsel  not  to  drink  the 
draft  which  the  girls  offer  to  him,  but  to  let  it  run  down  his 
breast.  In  this  text,  however,  as  in  all  the  others,  the  main 
point  is  the  presentation  of  a  scene  showing  the  effect  of 
the  song  on  nature,  on  the  streams,  the  fishes,  and  the 
birds.  This  capital  ballad,  it  seems  to  me,  must  assuredly 
be  referred  to  a  late  period,  certainly  as  late  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century,  both  because  of  the  forms  of 
speech  used,  and  because  of  the  stress  laid  upon  the  lyrical 
element,  together  with  an  absence  of  epical  content.  In  any 
case,  it  constitutes  an  exception  to  the  general  run  of  ballads. 


THE  7  63 

It  remains  to  note  a  couple  more  of  ballads  which  use  / 
throughout;  the  first,  a  rather  extravagant  production,  is 
"  The  Maiden's  Punishment "  1  (No.  464),  and  the  second 
"  The  Cloister  Maiden  "  (No.  20  in  Grundtvig's  "  Heroic 
Ballads,"  1867).  In  this  last  ballad  a  maiden  sings  of  how 
she  was  betrayed  by  her  lover,  and  how  she  desires  to  take 
the  veil. 

9.  I  '11  now  seek  out  some  cloister  lone, 
And  serve  the  Virgin  meek ; 
Never  again  will  I  trust  a  young  man, 
Though  he  burn  to  a  fiery  gleed. 

10.  The  first  step  you  step  that  cloister  within, 
You  meet  three  bad  dishes ; 

The  first  is  Hunger,  the  second  Thirst, 
The  third  is  Wakeful  Nights. 

11.  Oh !  and  if  the  cloister  were  burned, 
And  all  the  nuns  were  dead, 

And  that  I  had  a  faithful  friend 
Who  would  me  clothe  and  feed. 

12.  Now  I  am  like  the  silly  man 
Who  built  his  house  on  the  ice ; 

The  ice  gave  way,  and  the  house  sank  down, 
Sorrow  has  made  him  wise. 

13.  Now  I  am  like  the  lonely  tree 
That  stands  on  the  plain  so  wide ; 
Far  from  shelter,  far  from  town, 
Where  the  wind  sweeps  from  every  side. 

1  A  maiden  has  taken  refuge  with  a  young  man ;  she  is  driven  away 
by  his  relatives ;  she  wanders  about  as  a  beggar  until  the  plague  visits 
the  land,  when  all  her  relatives  die,  leaving  her  rich ;  she  then  accepts 
the  youth  who  was  her  lover,  and  who  had  given  her  bread  and  water 
when  she  was  in  poverty. 


64  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

14.  Now  I  am  like  the  little  bird 

Which  flies  o'er  the  plain  so  wide ; 
Try  where  it  may,  it  finds  no  spot 
Where  it  and  its  nest  may  abide. 

Grundtvig  has  already  remarked  that  this  lament  cannot 
be  old  :  "  It  is  perhaps  no  older  than  the  fifteenth  century." 
It  would  be  more  correct  to  assign  it  to  the  first  half  of 
the  sixteenth.  There  is  altogether  too  much  art  displayed 
in  its  parallelism.  Stanzas  5  and  6  are  parallel ;  also  7,  8, 
and  9;  also  12,  13,  and  14.  The  similitude  in  stanza  10 
of  the  "  three  bad  dishes  "  smacks  too  much  of  a  taste 
that  belongs  to  the  world  of  culture,  and  is  entirely  foreign 
to  ballad  style.  On  the  whole,  its  accumulation  of  images 
and  its  use  of  proverbs  agree  but  little  with  the  language 
of  popular  ballads.  This  point  will  be  discussed  at  more 
length  later  on.  All  in  all,  the  form  of  the  ballad  seems 
to  have  been  affected  by  subsequent  accretions.  It  begins 
with  the  singer  proposing  to  enter  the  cloister,  but  it  ends 
with  her  being  already  an  inmate,  who  wishes  that  it  would 
burn  down.  Quite  otherwise  runs  the  Swedish  version 
(Arwidsson  No.  123),  which  consists  of  only  five  stanzas. 
In  stanza  4  we  find  the  line,  "  They  led  her  into  the 
cloister,"  etc.  Here,  then,  we  notice  that  the  first  person  is  not 
employed  throughout.  When  we  take  into  further  considera- 
tion the  fact  that  this  same  subject  is  treated  very  vigorously 
in  a  German  ballad,  we  seem  to  have  sufficient  ground  for  re- 
garding this  ballad  as  heterogeneous  and,  at  any  rate,  recent. 
Thus  I  have  gone  through  all  the  modes  in  which  the 
/manifests  itself  in  the  ballads.  I  have  shown  to  what 
extent  the  balladist  remains  incognito,  and  how  little  it  is 
known  that  some  ballads  are  monologues  which  are  spoken 


THE  7  65 

by  the  chief  characters,  and  that  others  are  given  up  to 
subjective,  lyrical  expression.  The  two  ballads  that  partake 
of  this  latter  nature  bear  every  token  of  belonging  to  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  not  to  the  Middle  Ages.  As  a  rule, 
the  7  and  the  pure  lyrical  element  appear  in  the  first  stanza 
and  in  the  refrain ;  the  remaining  portion  of  the  ballad  is 
always  taken  up  with  objective,  epical  narrative. 

How  little  known  it  is  that  the  above  is  the  main  ten- 
dency of  ballads  is  strikingly  borne  out  by  the  following 
instance.  On  the  basis  of  two  ballad  lines,  which  are  pre- 
served in  a  runic  manuscript  of  Skaane  laws  (c.  1 300),  the 
learned  Professor  L.  Fr.  Laffler  has  recently  composed  a 
little  song  of  five  stanzas,  "just  as  he  thought  the  ballad 
would  have  continued  it."  l 

I  dreamed  a  dream  late  last  night, 
Of  silk  and  the  velvet  fine. 
He  has  won  to  his  prize  at  last, 
This  gallant  knight  of  mine. 
But  where  —  Oh  !  where  will  he  find  rest  f 

He  bore  me  away  from  the  cloister  wall, 
And  set  me  on  his  charger  brown. 
And  so  with  pomp  and  prancing  steed 
We  rode  into  the  town. 
But  -where  —  Oh  !  where  will  he  find  rest  ? 

The  wedding  passes  off  safely  and  merrily,  and  she  sleeps 
in  her  lord's  arms. 

I  awoke  and  still  in  my  cloister  bed 
I  lay,  cold  and  alone. 
Vanished  were  all  my  garments  gay, 
The  bridal  feast  was  gone. 
But  where  —  Oh  !  where  shall  I  find  rest  ? 

1  Nyare  bidrag  till  Kannedom  om  de  svenska  landsmSlen  och  svenskt 
folklif,  Vol.  VI ;  see  Minor  Articles,  p.  cl. 


66  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Granted  that  it  be  very  pretty  indeed,  yet  Professor  Laffler 
has  wholly  missed  the  mark.  Not  only  do  the  complaints 
of  nuns  dissatisfied  with  their  chosen  lot  belong  entirely 
to  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  or  to  the  period  of  the 
Reformation,  but  also  the  /-form,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  is 
practically  unknown  to  our  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Above  all,  the  poet  failed  to  perceive  that  the  two  extant 
lines  constitute  an  introduction,  in  which  the  /,  in  accordance 
with  the  old  laws  of  poetry,  has  the  right  to  appear ;  and 
that  it  should  vanish  at  once  after  having  struck  the  key- 
note and  possibly  indicated  the  refrain.  It  is  therefore 
utterly  beside  the  mark  to  surmise  how  the  ballad  may 
have  run.  Thus  much  is  certain,  however,  it  was  not  a 
lyrical,  erotic  lament,  but  an  epical  ballad  whose  story  was 
told  in  the  third  person. 

V.    THIS   I   SAY  TO  YOU   IN   SOOTH 

Hitherto  I  have  avoided  mentioningone  form  of/,  namely, 
that  verse  which  we  meet  a  hundred  times  :  "  This  I  say  to 
you  in  sooth."  We  are  fully  aware  by  this  time  how  seldom 
the  /  of  the  poet  makes  its  appearance  in  the  ballads,  even 
if  the  /  of  the  actor  now  and  then  is  found.  The  poet  can 
intrude  himself  only  in  the  introductory  stanza,  and  in  the 
line  just  referred  to,  which  greets  us  with  such  extraordinary 
frequency  that  it  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  character- 
istic of  ballad  form.  Keeping  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  /, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  all  but  constantly  held  in  leash,  could 
we  entertain  the  supposition  that  its  continual  appearance 
in  the  ballads  resulted  from  the  need  which  the  /  felt  of 
expressing  itself  ?  Or  could  it  not  rather  be  a  line  which, 


THE  7  67 

not  the  poet,  but  he  who  in  later  times  sang  or  noted  down 
the  ballad  used  whenever  his  memory  failed  him  ? 

We  meet  with  this  line  even  in  the  first  ballad  of 
Grundtvig's  collection—  "  Thor  of  Havsgaard  "  (No.  i), 
which  is  handed  down  from  antiquity  in  two  old  manu- 
scripts, A  together  with  Vedel  B.  In  A  we  find  the  line 
three  times : 

A  14.  Then  they  brought  the  young  bride  forth, 
They  brought  her  into  the  bridal  court ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
No  gold  was  grudged  the  players'  sport 

20.  Eight  there  were  of  warriors 
They  carried  the  hammer  on  a  tree ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 

They  laid  it  over  the  bride's  knee. 

21.  It  was  then  the  young  bride 
Took  the  hammer  in  her  hand ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
She  tossed  it  lightly  as  a  wand. 

Its  very  position  here  in  the  middle  of  the  ballad  goes  to 
prove  that  it  is  a  corruption,  for  certainly  one  would  expect 
a  heightening  of  expression  or  an  unexpected  turn  in  the 
thought  to  justify  the  use  of  the  assertion  that  the  balladist 
is  telling  the  truth.  There  is  nothing  wonderful,  however, 
in  a  warrior's  placing  a  hammer  on  the  bride's  knee. 
Vedel,  therefore,  in  his  rendering,  which  is  based  on  the 
two  manuscripts,  has  corrected  the  line  to : 

They  laid  it  then  so  artfully 
Right  over  the  bride's  knee. 

The  same  general  criticism  holds  true  of  line  four  in 
stanza  14  — "No  gold  was  grudged  the  players,"  —which 


68  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

appears  constantly  in  the  ballads,  and  which  was  never 
omitted  by  the  "  players  "  when  they  performed  for  money ; 
probably  it  was  often  introduced  as  a  suggestive  reminder 
to  the  audience.  The  insertion  in  this  stanza,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  other  line,  seems  wholly  mechanical ;  apparently 
the  reciter  had  forgotten  the  two  genuine  lines.  The  text  of 
the  same  ballad  which  Kristensen  noted  down  in  Jutland 
not  long  ago  has  the  following  stanzas  corresponding  to 
stanzas  20  and  2 1  above  : 

22.  Twelve  there  were  of  warriors 
To  lift  the  hammer  at  all ; 

But  eighteen  there  were  of  warriors 
Bore  it  into  the  hall. 

23.  Eighteen  there  were  of  warriors 
Bore  it  into  the  hall ; 

But  it  was  the  stout  young  bride 
Raised  it  with  her  fingers  small. 

From  this  stanza  then,  it  would  seem  possible  to  construct 
a  more  correct  stanza  than  stanza  20  of  Grundtvig's  version  ; 
as,  for  example  : 

Twelve  there  were  of  warriors 
Carried  the  hammer  on  a  tree ; 
Eighteen  there  were  of  warriors 
Laid  it  over  the  bride's  knee. 

Furthermore  it  may  be  noted  that  the  modern  text  men- 
tioned above  contains  in  none  of  its  twenty-five  stanzas  the 
line,  "  This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth  "  ;  nor  does  the  Swedish 
text,  which  is  preserved  in  two  manuscripts  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  It  can  safely  be  affirmed  that  this  line  is 
not  a  part  of  the  original  ballad,  and  that  accordingly  it 
should  be  omitted. 


THE  I  69 

Let  us  pass  on  to  "  Sivard  Snarensvend  "  (No.  2),  where 
the  same  peculiarity  repeats  itself.  In  A  we  find  the  line 
twice,  but  not  at  all  in  B.  The  story  is  concerned  with 
Sivard's  wonderful  horse  Skimling,  or  Gram  : 

A  9.  It  was  Sivard  Snarensvend, 

He  clapped  his  spurs  to  his  steed ; 
It  gave  three  bounds  out  o'er  the  field, 
And  they  served  him  not  at  need. 

10.  He  gave  three  bounds  out  o'er  the  field, 
And  they  served  him  not  at  need ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
He  sweated  drops  of  blood. 

Every  one  must  feel  that  this  commonplace,  tedious  verse, 
with  its  endless  repetitions,  can  be  neither  original  nor 
correct.  In  B  the  corresponding  stanza,  though  not  per- 
fectly clear,  is  at  least  complete  and  is  free  from  that  line : 

B  7.  Gram  he  led  out  to  the  heath, 
It  served  him  not  at  need ; 
Sorely  wounded  he  sat  in  the  saddle, 
He  sweated  the  blood  so  red. 

Further  on  in  A  runs  a  stanza  as  follows  : 

A  15.  It  was  Sivard  Snarensvend, 

He  clapped  his  spurs  to  his  horse ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
He  leaped  into  the  castle  court. 

Here  are  the  first  two  lines  of  B  1 1  : 

Gram  took  the  bit  between  his  teeth 
And  sprang  o'er  the  castle  wall. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  unreasonable  therefore  to  conjecture  the 
last  two  lines  of  A  1 5  to  have  run  so  : 

Gram  took  the  bit  between  his  teeth 
And  leaped  into  the  castle  court. 


70  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

These  characteristic  lines  occur  again  in  a  Jutland  version 
of  the  ballad  taken  down  by  Kristensen  (Grundtvig,  IV,  583): 

D  13.  It  was  Sivard's  gallant  steed, 

In  his  teeth  he  champed  the  bit ; 
Fifteen  fathoms  he  plunged  o'er  the  wall, 
So  both  their  lives  they  quit. 

In  "  The  Lombards  "  (No.  21)  occurs  the  stanza : 

AID.  When  they  reached  the  open  sea, 
Joyful  grew  each  eye  and  heart ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
Of  fame  and  wealth  they  had  their  part. 

How  flat  and  insipid  this  verse  sounds !  And  when  we 
compare  it  with  the  last  two  lines  of  the  other  two  texts, 
which  are  preserved  in  old  manuscripts  : 

B  1 2.  When  they  came  to  the  foreign  shore, 
They  won  both  wealth  and  fame. 

C  1 1 .  When  they  fared  them  through  the  land, 
They  won  them  many  victories, 

we  cannot  entertain  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  line  in  ques- 
tion is  mere  padding  used  to  fill  out  a  defective  memory. 
In  "  Queen  Dagmar's  Ballad  "  (No.  135)  we  read  : 

A  6.  St.  Mary's  book  she  then  took  up, 
She  read  it  the  while  she  might ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
The  salt  tear  blinded  her  sight. 

The  copy  of  this  ballad  noted  down  in  recent  times 
(Kristensen,  I,  No.  56)  has  a  line  which  may  well  have 
stood  here : 

9.  She  took  up  the  Bible  and  the  holy  book, 
And  read  all  that  she  might ; 
And  every  line  she  read  therein, 
The  salt  tear  blinded  her  sight. 


THE  7  71 

Grundtvig  is  of  the  opinion  that  this  latter  text  has  its 
original  in  Vedel's  "  Book  of  a  Hundred  Ballads  "  ;  but 
Vedel's  text  wants  this  third  line,  which,  however,  reads 
as  naturally  as  if  it  were  native  to  the  ballad.  Thus  this 
ballad  goes  to  show  that  whenever  the  above  notorious  line 
creeps  in,  the  expression  becomes  enfeebled  and  puerile ; 
whereas  we  should  expect,  according  to  the  context  of 
such  an  affirmation,  —  that  is,  from  what  is  foreshad- 
owed, —  a  heightening  of  expression. 

Furthermore,  in  all  these  ballads  cited  there  is  room 
nowhere  for  an  /,  whether  it  be  in  the  introduction  or  in 
the  conclusion ;  the  narrative  runs  along  entirely  in  the 
objective  third  person.  Only  in  that  one  line  an  /  sud- 
denly obtrudes  itself.  Is  not  this  fact  significant,  and  does 
not  such  an  interpolation  clash  with  all  good  rules  of 
artistic  composition  ? 

Let  us  look  at  it  from  another  point  of  view.  Here  is 
a  good,  complete  stanza  from  "  German  Gladensvend  " 
(No.  33),  which  is  found  with  some  variations  in  four  of 
the  five  texts  of  the  ballad  : 

B  ii.  It  was  German  Gladensvend, 
He  rode  by  the  salt  sea  strand ; 
He  wooed  the  maiden  Adelude, 
The  fairest  in  the  land. 

Note  how  this  stanza  can  be  diluted.  In  the  remaining 
version  (A  14)  we  find  the  last  two  lines  replaced  by: 

This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
He  wooed  so  fair  a  maid. 

Curiously  enough,  Grundtvig,  who,  on  the  whole,  has  not 
been  sensible  of  the  peculiarity  of  this  line,  has  refused  to 


72  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

adopt  it  in  his  popular  edition  of  the  ballads.  And  which 
of  the  two  following  forms  is  correct  ? 

B  24,  C  27,  E  22.  She  then  took  out  her  golden  comb 
And  combed  his  yellow  hair ; 
With  every  lock  she  stroke, 
Let  fall  a  bitter  tear, 

or  as  in  the  last  two  lines  of  D  20  ? 

This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
Let  fall  a  bitter  tear. 

In  this  instance  Grundtvig  has  not  sanctioned  the  line. 
In  both  cases,  however,  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
it  is  an  illegitimate  verse  which  has  displaced  the  genuine 
verse. 

Another  objection  that  follows  in  the  wake  of  this  verse 
is  that  it  is  never  found  twice  in  the  same  place  in  any 
two  versions  of  the  same  ballad.  For  example,  in  "Peder 
Gudmandson  and  the  Dwarfs"  (No.  35),  Grundtvig, 
who  first  regarded  A  as  the  best  text,  has  later  adopted 
the  view  that  B  "  gives  us  everything  that  belongs  to 
genuine  old  tradition,  whereas  A  is  a  later,  arbitrary  ex- 
pansion of  this  framework  "  (IV,  790).  In  this  Grundtvig 
is  wholly  right.  Now  in  B  we  meet  the  stanza : 

3.  "  Right  welcome,  Peder  Gudmandson, 
Right  welcome  are  you  here ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
You  shall  drink  the  Yule  with  dwarfs  this  year." 

Although  this  line,  since  it  is  spoken  here  by  a  character 
other  than  the  hero,  does  not  wholly  conflict  with  ballad 
style,  yet  beyond  all  question  it  ought  to  be  omitted.  In 


THE  I  73 

the  corresponding  stanza  of  A  the  line  is  wanting,  but  its 
place  is  taken  by  an  intolerable  prolixity : 

6.  Right  welcome,  Sir  Peder  Gudmandson, 
Right  welcome  are  you  here ; 

We  '11  pour  for  you  the  mead  so  brown 
And  the  blood-red  wine  so  clear. 

7.  We  '11  pour  for  you  the  mead  so  brown 
And  the  blood-red  wine  so  clear ; 

By  my  faith,  Peder  Gudmandson, 

You  shall  drink  apart  with  dwarfs  this  year. 

In  addition  A  contains  the  following  meretricious  set  of 
verses : 

19.  It  was  early  in  the  morning, 
As  soon  as  day  was  come ; 
It  was  Sir  Peder  Gudmandson 
Was  fain  to  be  up  and  gone. 

20.  It  was  Sir  Peder  Gudmandson, 
Was  fain  to  be  up  and  gone ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
Of  help  was  there  none. 

2 1 .  This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
It  brought  him  grief  and  woe, 
Since  that  (sic !)  the  elf-man's  daughter 
Was  loath  to  let  him  go. 

25.  She  yielded  to  his  wish  at  last, 
He  must  away  from  the  hill ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
With  her  it  never  went  well. 

The  amount  of  padding  used  in  this  ballad  illustrates  how 
memory  is  accustomed  to  stuff  and  patch  its  gaps.  It  is 
also  significant  that  gange  (go)  occurs  as  a  riming  word 
in  stanzas  19  and  20 ;  fromme  (benefit,  to  go  well  with 


74  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

one)  in  16,  20,  24,  25  ;  komme  (come)  in  13,  16,  17,  24, 
25,  26.  The  stanza  last  enumerated  Grundtvig  considers  to 
be  "  a  late  fabrication."  The  fact  that  it  is  found  in  such 
bad  company  is  in  itself  a  sufficient  indication  of  its  worth. 
"  The  Elfen  Hill "  (No.  46)  is  related  entirely  in  the 
first  person ;  hence  the  line  in  question  does  not  clash 
with  the  style.  Nevertheless,  even  in  this  case,  its  genu- 
ineness is  open  to  doubt.  In  "  Queen  Sophie's  Ballad- 
Book  "  and  in  several  other  manuscripts,  we  find  the 
following  stanza : 

63.  "  Wake  up,  wake  up,  my  bonny  boy ! 
Come  dance  with  us  right  featly ; 
My  maiden  shall  sing  a  song  for  you, 
And  Oh !  but  she  sings  sweetly." 

4.  The  maiden  then  began  her  song, 
Fairest  was  she  under  the  sun ; 
The  bustling  stream  it  ceased  to  flow 
So  fast  was  wont  to  run. 

There  is  no  call  for  regarding  an  interpolation  necessary 
between  these  two  stanzas ;  this  would  result  rather  in 
weakening  the  dramatic  force.  Yet  in  A  appears  a  stanza 
explaining  that  a  stool  was  first  handed  to  the  maiden  to 
sit  upon  while  she  was  singing : 

A  5.  They  brought  a  stool  of  the  burnished  gold, 
A  seat  for  the  elfen  maid ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
The  game  for  me  was  badly  played. 

This  stanza  is  inserted  between  the  two  cited  above.  It 
is  found  only  in  Sten  Bille's  manuscript ;  neither  text  B 
nor  any  of  the  modern  copies  recognize  it.  To  acquiesce 
in  its  usurpation  would  be  an  unparalleled  instance  of 
good  nature. 


THE  7  75 

In  the  diffuse,  spun-out  romances  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
in  which  length  and  rime  are  aimed  at,  the  above  line, 
together  with  "  What  more  can  I  say  ? "  leads  an  accept- 
able existence.  Compare,  for  example,  verses  250,  269, 
365,  477,  1375  in  the  romance  of  "  Persenober  and  Con- 
stantianobis."  In  these  romances  the  /of  the  singer  con- 
stantly forces  itself  upon  our  notice.  It  has  gained  a  place 
in  the  ballads  as  a  result  of  the  frequent  use  of  the  ballad 
in  the  dance,  and  of  the  unique  mode  of  preservation  by 
tradition  instead  of  by  writing.  But  since  it  originally  had 
no  place  in  the  ballad,  it  should  be  banished  entirely.  I 
shall  illuminate  this  point  from  another  direction. 

Although  repetition  is  somewhat  characteristic  of  ballad 
style,  as  I  shall  make  clear  later,  yet,  in  many  places, 
repetitions  have  crept  in  that  were  not  part  of  the  original 
ballad.  In  the  Faroese  ballad  of  "  Regin  the  Smith  "  are 
met  the  stanzas  : 

74.  The  sword's  pieces  Sigurd  struck 
With  mighty  blow  across  the  knee ; 
Then  shook  with  fear  Regin  the  Smith 
Just  like  a  lily  leaf. 

75.  The  sword's  pieces  Sigurd  took 
And  laid  them  in  his  hand ; 

Then  shook  with  fear  Regin  the  Smith 
Just  like  a  lily  wand. 

The  communicator  of  this  ballad,  Pastor  Lyngbye,  remarks 
that  the  last  stanza  repeats  with  only  slight  variations  the 
substance  of  the  preceding.  "  I  have  omitted  many  such 
verses,  which  were  patently  variations  ;  yet  I  have  allowed 
several  to  stand  as  specimens,  for  this  repetition  is  some- 
what peculiar  to  old  Faroese  poetry  (it  is  found  sometimes 


76  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR 'BALLAD 

in  the  old  Danish  heroic  ballads),  and  at  times  is  neces- 
sary ;  inasmuch  as  the  songs  were  not  preserved  in  writing, 
this  repetition  afforded  the  leader  of  the  song  a  breathing- 
spell,  during  which  he  could  recall  to  mind  what  was  to 
follow  "  ("  Faeroiske  Quaeder,"  pp.  74  ff ). 

As  we  can  readily  see,  the  same  observation  applies 
equally  well  to  our  Danish  ballads.  Among  others,  the 
stanzas  cited  above  from  "  Peder  Gudmandson "  could 
serve  as  examples.  Now  if  it  were  the  case  that  a  singer 
was  obliged  to  compose  a  new  stanza  alongside  of  the 
old  with  but  trifling  changes,  here  was  a  line—  "This  I 
say  to  you  in  sooth  "  — all  ready  to  his  hand  as  material 
toward  such  a  stanza.  It  is  now  plainly  conceivable  how 
such  a  stanza  as  the  second  of  the  following,  from  "  Marsk 
Stig  "  (No.  145),  has  originated  : 

B  24.  It  was  Eric  the  king 

Gazed  out  his  window  high ; 
"  Yonder  I  see  Sir  Marsti 
Come  riding  his  steed  so  gray. 

25.  "  Yonder  I  see  Sir  Marsti 

At  the  gate  he  stands  to  view ; 

This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 

He  glistens  like  the  dove  so  blue." 

None  of  the  other  texts  have  a  stanza  corresponding  to 
this  last.  The  repetition  in  this  case  is  not  only  super- 
fluous, but  is  also  monotonous  and  wearisome.  The  stanza 
contains  nothing  new ;  it  is  merely  a  dilution  of  the  pre- 
ceding. It  belongs  solely  to  that  style  of  verse  which 
exists  only  for  the  convenience  of  the  singer ;  and  it 
would  never  have  been  acknowledged  by  the  original 
balladist  as  his  own. 


THE  I  77 

I  shall  illustrate  by  one  more  example  how  this  super- 
fluous verse  arose.    In  "  Marsk  Stig  "  (No.  145)  we  have  : 

F  7.  It  was  Ranild  Jensson, 

He  hewed  both  beam  and  board ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
He  proved  a  traitor  to  his  lord. 

8.  They  have  stricken  him  in  to  his  shoulder-bone, 
It  stood  out  beyond  his  neck ; 

This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
It  was  a  traitor's  trick. 

9.  They  have  stricken  him  in  to  his  shoulder, 
And  out  his  left  side  too ; 

"Now  have  we  done  a  deed  to-day 
All  Denmark  will  sorely  rue." 

Not  only  the  diffuseness,  but  also  the  quadruple  rime 
(Balk,  Skalk,  Hals,  Falsk),  clearly  show  that  here  lie 
before  us  an  addition  and  an  expansion ;  the  mortising 
line  moreover  is  forced  into  service  twice.  The  text 
most  closely  linked  with  F,  namely  G,  runs  as  follows : 

5.  They  have  stricken  their  lord  through  the  heart, 
And  out  his  left  side  too ; 

"  Now  have  we  done  to-day  a  deed 
All  Denmark  shall  rue." 

6.  It  was  then  that  Ranild 

So  fierce  did  hew  and  slay ; 
Upon  the  floor  their  king  lay  dead, 
For  he  got  no  help  that  day. 

He  who  sang  these  lines  had  a  good  memory,  he  had  no 
need  of  padding ;  he  knew  that  the  beauty  of  the  text  was  not 
to  be  measured  by  the  number  of  words.  And  every  one 
will  find,  by  testing  for  himself,  that  the  line  which  asserts 


78  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

the  truth  of  the  singer's  statements  frequently  makes  its 
appearance  in  company  with  verse  repetition  and  with  lines 
whose  riming  words  have  been  used  before. 

In  conclusion  I  shall  discuss  an  illuminating  feature 
connected  with  the  influence  exercised  on  the  original  form 
of  the  ballad  by  the  mode  of  delivery.  I  refer  to  the  fashion 
of  singing  their  runic  songs  in  vogue  with  the  Finns. 
These  are  commonly  executed  by  two  singers,  of  whom 
only  one  is  properly  the  performer,  the  other  acting 
merely  as  an  echo,  as  an  assistant  or  supporter.  The  two 
join  hands  and  sit  facing  each  other.  Number  one  then 
chants  a  line.  By  the  time  he  has  reached  the  last  stave 
his  assistant  has  grasped  what  is  to  come  and  there- 
upon sings  the  same  thing  in  concert  with  him.  Now 
the  second  singer  repeats  the  whole  line  by  himself  in  a 
slightly  varied  pitch  of  voice,  and  usually  with  some  little 
addition,  such  as  "truly,"  "rightly,"  "  indeed,"  "I  say,"  "  it 
was  said,"  "  in  truth,"  etc.  The  last  word  of  the  line  is  sung 
anew  in  unison,  after  which  the  first  man  sings  the  second 
line  of  the  poem.  The  second  singer  joins  in  on  the  last 
word  and  then  repeats  the  line.  Meanwhile  the  first  man 
has  had  time  to  recall  what  is  to  follow.  After  the  pair 
have  sung  the  concluding  word  of  the  line  as  a  duet,  num- 
ber one  takes  up  the  third  line.  And  so  on  to  the  end.1 
Here  is  appended  a  specimen  of  such  a  poem  in  order  to 
make  clear  how  this  performance  looks.  I  omit,  however, 
one  of  the  duets,  which,  at  any  rate,  is  not  always  found, 
and  have  distinguished  by  different  type  the  part  sung  by 
the  fore-singer  from  the  part  sung  by  his  comrade. 

1  Gustaf  Retzius,  Finska  Kranier  jamte  nS.gra  natur-  och  literatur- 
studier,  pp.  132  ff. 


THE  I  79 

f  Wainamoinen 
Old,  confident  •<  ,,,  ...... 

I.  Wainamoinen 

Old,  confident  Wainamoinen 

f  scabbard 
Drew  the  sharp  steel  from  the  -J       AAV 

Drew  so  surely  the  sharp  steel  from  the  scabbard 

f  water 
Thrust  the  sword  deep  into  the-s 

i.  -water 

Thrust,  I  say,  the  sword  deep  into  the  water 

{vessel 
, 
vessel 

Struck  up,  in  truth,  from  under  the  side  of  the  vessel 

.    f  shoulder 
Into  the  great  V& 


Into  the  great  pike1  s  shoulder 

.    f  backbone 
Against  the  cruel  water-dog's  s  ,     ,  , 

Against  the  cruel  water-dog's  backbone 

f  Wainamoinen 
Old,  confident  •{  ,,,  ...... 

i.  Wainamoinen 

Old,  confident  Wainamoinen 

f  surf  ICG 
Sought  to  draw  the  fish  to  the-{ 

^surface 

Sought,  in  fact,  to  draw  the  fish  to  the  surface 

f  water 
Lifted  the  pike  out  of  the  •{ 

(_  water 

Lifted,  they  say,  the  pike  out  of  the  water 

f  pieces 
The  pike  burst  into  two  •{  ,  . 

\_pieces 

The  pike,  indeed,  burst  into  two  pieces 

The  tail  sank  and  went  to  the  \  , 

I,  bottom 

The  tail  sank,  I  say,  and  went  to  the  bottom 

{vessel 
. 

Only  the  upper  half  fell  into  the  vessel. 


8o  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

If  one  should  here  set  down  the  version  sung  by  the  com- 
rade as  the  correct  text  of  the  poem,  he  would  sin  grievously 
against  the  poet.  The  same  holds  good  of  our  Danish 
ballads ;  namely,  that  the  line  "  This  I  say  to  you  in 
sooth  "  and  many  other  repetitions  are  additions,  a  little 
dressed  up,  which  arose  from  the  manner  of  performing 
the  ballad.  They  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the 
original  ballad,  and,  for  the  reading  of  the  ballad  to-day, 
they  work  only  for  confusion. 

Thus,  I  believe,  I  have  thrown  considerable  light  on  the 
worth  and  significance  of  this  well-known  line.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  in  the  future  efforts  will  be  made  to  extir- 
pate this  weed  which  has  grown  up  in  the  garden  of  our 
popular  ballads. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  REFRAIN 

The  refrain  is  a  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian ballads  and  gives  rise  to  a  discussion  of  a  varied 
nature.  As  is  well  known,  it  is  most  frequently  found  at 
the  end  of  each  stanza ;  but  double,  and  even  triple,  re- 
frains are  not  uncommon.  The  first  part  of  such  a 
many-jointed  refrain  can  be  interpolated  in  a  two-line 
stanza  after  the  first  line,  and  in  a  four-line  stanza  after 
the  second  line,  the  second  and  third  parts  after  the  fourth 
line.  The  refrain  is  by  no  means  unrhythmical,  but  its 
rhythm  is  not  that  of  the  ballad  proper ;  on  the  whole,  it 
can  show  the  widest  variation.  Time  with  its  gnawing 
tooth  has  worked  nearly  as  much  destruction  on  the  re- 
frains of  our  ballads  as  on  the  texts  themselves.  Many 
refrains  have  become  meaningless  ;  by  daily  repetition  their 
form  has  been  marred  and  their  substance  rendered  un- 
certain. Finally  many  ballads  have  lost  their  original  refrains 
and  have  been  forced  to  borrow  others,  in  many  cases  get- 
ting hold  of  one  which  did  not  fit.  At  length  they  have 
ended  up  with  the  modern  nonsensical  refrains,  nonnenino, 
didaderit,  and  the  like.1 

1  Note  by  translator :  Instances  of  similar  breakdowns  of  refrains 
into  meaningless  syllables  will  readily  come  to  the  minds  of  English 
readers,  such  as,  for  example,  the  "  Downe  a  downe,  hay  down,  hay 
down  .  .  .  with  a  downe  derrie,  derrie,  derrie,  downe,  downe,"  of  the 
ballad  of  "  The  Three  Ravens." 

81 


82  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

I.  NATURE  OF  THE  REFRAIN 

Though  our  refrains  are  diversified  and  multifarious, 
yet  they  can  be  grouped  into  certain  leading  divisions.1 
In  the  refrain  the  ballad  may  all  but  announce  its  title ;  it 
may  set  forth  its  principal  event  or  its  chief  personage 
and  his  attributes ;  or  it  may  specify  the  nature  of  the 
treatment  to  be  meted  out  to  him  whom  the  ballad 
would  especially  emphasize : 

No.    30.  Holger  Dansk  has  overthrown  Burmand. 
No.    92.  Dead  rides  Sir  Morten  of  Fuglsang. 
No.  135.  In  Ringsted  there  dwells  Queen  Dagmar. 
No.  145.  My  noble  lord,  that  young  Sir  Marsti! 

As  it  appears,  this  is  particularly  true  of  the  historical 
ballads.  But  the  refrain  may  likewise  endeavor  to  accen- 
tuate the  dominant  mood,  the  ground  tone  of  the  subject 
matter  that  is  to  prevail : 

No.    83.  Sorrow  is  heavy  when  one  must  bear  it  alone. 

No.  145.  And  we  are  driven  from  Denmark. 

No.  146.  And  wide  they  roamed  through  the  world. 

More  frequently,  however,  a  joyous  ring  greets  the  listener's 
ear,  such  as  is  found,  for  example,  in  the  references  to  the 
season  of  the  year : 

No.    45.  While  (men) z  the  linden  grows  leafy. 
No.  125.  As  far  as  the  leaves  are  green. 

1  Cf.  N.  M.  Petersen,  Den  danske  Literaturs  Historic,  2d  ed.,  II,  157  ; 
Rosenberg,  Nordboernes  Aandsliv,  II,  524. 

2  Men  (but)  possibly  means  here  medens  (while) ;  yet,  since  this  men 
occurs  so  frequently,  I  shall  call  attention  to  the  fact  that "  the  peasants 
in  Jutland  usually  begin   their  conversation   with  this  conjunction" 
(Lyngbye,  Faeroiske  Quaeder,  p.  577).   Cf.  Feiberg,  Ordbog  over  jyske 
Almuesmaal,  men.   Ballad  No.  298  L  begins  so  :  "  But  (men)  there  dwells 
a  rich  lady  south  of  the  river." 


THE  REFRAIN  83 

No.  1 84.  The  woods  are  wondrous  green  — 

In  the  growing  summer  time. 
No.  1 86.  So  early  in  summer. 
No.  199.  It  is  so  fair  in  summer. 

No.  20 1.  There  stands  a  noble  linden  in  the  count's  garden. 
No.  252.  All  through  the  winter  so  cold  — 

Await  us,  fair  ladies,  all  through  the  summer 
No.  273.  Both  winter  and  summer  time. 
No.  234.  The  leaves  spring  forth  so  green. 
No.  297.  Why  dawns  not  the  day,  I  wonder. 

In  the  case  of  the  double  refrain  one  can  sometimes 
distinguish  two  chords  in  vibration : 

No.  1 1 6.  On  grassy  mountain-sides  — 

The  king  of  Sweden's  crown  he  seeks  to  avenge  (or, 

with  the  crown). 
No.  1 86.  There  fall  so  fair  a  frost  — 

So  merrily  goes  the  dance. 
No.  1 89.  Forget  me  not ! 

She  stepped  so  stately. 
No.  210.  While  the  summer  grows  — 

I  cannot  sleep  for  my  longing. 

Many  ballads  furthermore  take  into  account  the  singer's 
environment  Attention  has  been  called  several  times 
already  to  the  mention  of  dancing ;  references  are  also 
made  to  riding  and  rowing : 

No.  1 24.  All  ye  row  off ! 

No.  140.  Betake  yourself  to  your  oar. 

No.  460.  To  the  north  — 

And  now  lay  all  these  oars  beside  the  ship. 
No.  244.  (Norwegian).  Row  off,  noble  men ! 

To  the  maiden. 

No.  399.  Row  out  from  shore,  ye  speak  with  so  fair  a  one ! 
No.     1 6.  Long  before  the  dawn  we  come  far  over  the  moorland. 
No.    84.  Beneath  so  green  a  linden  — 

Ye  ride  so  wary  through  the  woods  with  her. 


84  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

No.  141.  Ye  do  not  ride! 

No.  1 34.  Ride  to  the  maiden's  bower,  comrade  mine ! 

The  word  which  we  meet  with  most  frequently  in  the 
refrains  is  certainly  "  maiden."  Still  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  infer  on  that  score  that  those  who  sang  were  in- 
variably young  men ;  there  are  ballads  which  allow  the 
maiden  herself  to  speak  in  the  refrain : 

No.    20.  Whether  you  win  me  or  so  fair  a  one. 
No.  121.  Would  I  were  as  fair  as  Tovelille  was ! 

And  indeed,  according  to  the  story  related  by  the  ballad, 
it  is  the  maiden  who  very  often  leads  off  the  singing.  In 
one  instance  it  would  seem  as  though  the  balladist  stood 
in  a  definite  relation  to  the  chief  character  of  the  ballad, 
namely,  "  Marsk  Stig"  (No.  145)  :  "  My  noble  lord,  that 
young  Sir  Marsti !  "  I  have  pointed  out  before  that  sim- 
ilarly in  the  first  stanza  the  singer  at  times  considers  himself 
to  be  present  or  to  be  taking  part  in  the  action. 

That  which  we  never  find  in  our  genuinely  popular 
ballads,  on  the  contrary,  is  those  exclamations  which  occur 
so  generally  in  the  German  ballads  and  which  appear  in 
late  Danish  copies,  where  they  must  have  displaced,  within 
the  last  two  hundred  years,  the  good,  old  refrains  :  namely, 
interjections  such  as  Haa !  Haa !  or  Eja !  which  are 
usually  accompanied  by  a  repetition  of  the  last  line.  In 
11  Redselille  and  Medelvold  "  (No.  271),  for  instance,  from 
a  broadside  of  about  1770,  we  find  the  refrain  "  Haa,  haa, 
haa !  "  with  a  repetition  of  the  last  line.  Such  an  exclama- 
tion might  have  exceptionally  slipped  into  a  ballad  which 
could  be  traced  back  to  an  old  manuscript,  but  rather  under 
the  guise  of  a  preliminary  chant  at  the  beginning  of  the 


THE  REFRAIN  85 

ballad,  and  later  before  each  stanza.  Similarly  we  find 
"Saa  vel  hei"  (much  the  same  as  "hey  noninony")  as  some 
such  fore-song  introducing  each  stanza  in  two  ballads  from 
Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript  (No.  2  5  and  Unpublished 
No.  119)  and  also  in  a  ballad  from  Anna  Basse's  manu- 
script (No.  373  ;  cf.  Grundtvig,  I,  351).  A  German  dance 
"  Hoppeldei "  and  a  related  "  Heierlei,"  in  which  the  cry 
heiahei!  was  used,  are  known  to  have  existed.1  The  South 
German  poet  Nithart  (ob.  1220)  sings  in  one  place : 

die  sah  ich  den  heijerleis 
schone  springen, 

and  in  another  place  : 

dennoch  haben  s'  einen  sit' : 
swer  dem  reigen  volget  mit, 
der  muosz  schrien  heia  hei !  unt  hei ! 

It  is  my  opinion  that  here  we  are  to  seek  for  the  source 
of  the  exclamations  in  the  Danish  ballads.  Since  these 
ballads  have  in  addition  a  regular  refrain  at  the  end  of 
each  stanza,  it  is  manifest  that  here  we  have  to  deal  with 
something  out  of  the  ordinary.  On  the  other  hand,  such 
a  cry  can  have  a  place  in  the  refrain  itself : 

No.  37.   Eia!  Oh,  sorrow,  how  heavy  art  thou! 

All  the  refrains  have  this  in  common  :  they  voice  the 
mood.  Even  though  they  deal  with  a  purely  matter-of-fact 
situation,  they  can  still  indicate  the  fundamental  tone ;  or 
they  may  engross  the  reader's  attention  in  a  way  that  is 
explicable  only  at  the  close  of  the  ballad.  But  the  same 

1  Weinhold,  Die  deutschen  Frauen,  p.  373 ;  Bbhme,  Tanz,  I,  35 ; 
Von  der  Hagen,  Minnesinger,  III,  189,  283. 


86  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

feeling  may  be  roused  by  a  variety  of  refrains,  and  the 
same  fundamental  mood  may  serve  as  the  basis  or  the 
object  of  many  ballads  ;  hence  it  follows  that  a  ballad  may 
well  have  several  refrains,  and  that  the  refrains  may  easily 
be  shifted  from  one  ballad  to  another.  At  the  same  time 
the  refrain  often  possesses  a  cohering  quality ;  it  contains, 
to  use  the  words  of  Wilhelm  Grimm,  "  many  a  time  the 
basis  upon  which  the  whole  circumstance  rests,  it  explains 
the  connection,  and  again  rings  out  as  a  voice  of  destiny." 
It  creates  a  certain  repose.  While  the  body  of  the  text 
forges  ahead  in  its  epical  progress,  the  refrain  remains 
stationary  and  reflective.1  It  gives  the  listener  time  to 
apprehend  the  narrative ;  it  rounds  off  every  stanza  to  a 
whole ;  it  provides  the  fore-singer  with  an  opportunity  to 
recall  what  is  to  follow.  It  is  the  custom  in  the  Faroes, 
when  the  fore-singer  cannot  recollect  the  verse,  for  the 
participants  to  repeat  the  refrain  until  the  missing  lines 
come  back  to  him,  and  in  the  Finnish  runic  song,  as  has 
been  shown  above,  every  single  line  is  repeated  in  order 
to  give  the  fore-singer  time  to  recall  those  succeeding. 

Geijer  has  been  inclined  to  deny  that  the  refrain  was 
delivered  by  the  chorus.  But  in  support  of  such  a  theory 
there  is  plenty  of  testimony.  There  is  a  verse  from  an  old 
German  poet  which  runs  : 

ein  maget  in  siiezer  wise 

diu  sane  vor,  die  andern  sungen  alle  nich.2 

Both  in  Germany  and  in  Scotland  the  chorus  seems  to 
have  sung  the  refrain.3  In  Iceland,  according  to  an  old 

1  Peder  Grbnland,  in  Allgem.  musikal.  Zeitttng,  1816,  No.  35. 

2  Bohme,  Tanz,  I,  27. 

8  Talvj,  Charakteristik  der  Volkslieder,  p.  336. 


THE  REFRAIN  87 

account,1  the  chorus  sang  responsively  to  the  fore-singer : 
first  one  took  up  the  song,  with  two  or  more  others  repeat- 
ing the  same  after  him,  while  the  remainder  danced  to 
the  rhythm ;  the  hemistich  was  repeated  in  unison  by 
the  general  body.  In  the  Faroes  all,  as  a  rule,  took  part 
in  singing  the  ballad,  and  all,  without  exception,  joined  in 
the  refrain.2 

On  the  other  hand,  Geijer  is  right  in  his  conclusion 
that  the  refrain  is  essentially  a  subjective  element.  It  has 
been  the  main  task  of  several  of  the  above  investigations 
to  show  with  what  extraordinary  nicety  the  ballads  have 
drawn  the  limits  and  bounds  between  the  narrator  and  his 
story.  As  a  result  the  poet  has  been  denied  all  opportunity 
of  inserting  remarks  and  arguments  of  his  own.  It  is  only 
in  the  refrain  that  he  finds  such  an  opportunity ;  there  it 
is  that  the  mood  expresses  itself ;  and  there  it  is,  as  is  in- 
dicated by  their  responses,  that  the  listeners  are  recognized 
as  participants.  It  is  precisely  this  participation  of  the 
singers  and  dancers  in  the  lyrical  utterance  that  works  for 
the  finest  totality  of  the  ballad  and  the  refrain.  Thus  the 
refrain  is  preeminently  a  component  part  of  the  ballad ; 
aesthetically  it  is  fully  justified,  but  when  read  it  becomes, 


1  Crymogaea,  per  Arngrimum  Jonam,  p.  57  :  staticulos  voco  saltatio- 
nem  ad  states  musicos  contentus ;  quae  carmen  vel  cantilenam,  quasi 
praeceptum  saltandi  adhibet :  praecinit  autem  unus :  duo  pluresve  paulo 
subcinunt :  reliqui  ad  numerum  seu  rythmum  saltant.   Orbis  saltatorius 
viris  et  faeminis  alternatim  incedentibus  constabat  et  quodamodo  inter- 
sectis  et  divisis  (in  the  margin :  wikivake)  .  .  .  hie  singuli  ordine  canti- 
lenam aliquam  cantant  per  certas  pausas,  dimidiis  versibus  (qui  a  choro 
reliquo  una  voce  canendo  repetuntur)  constantes  :  ad  finem  singulorum 
versuum,  principio  vel  fine  primi  versus  reduplicatione  quadam  (aliquando 
etiam  sine  ea)  intercalate. 

2  Lyngbye,  in  Magazin  f.  Reiseiagttageher,  I,  216. 


88  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

on  account  of  its  constant  repetition,  very  monotonous, 
and  in  consequence  it  has  been  shortened  in  the  texts,  or 
else  omitted,  except  in  the  first  and  last  stanzas.  It  is  only 
when  it  is  sung,  when  it  is  elevated  by  the  melody ;  only 
when  another,  in  addition  to  the  fore-singer,  helps  to  deliver 
it,  with  the  remainder  joining  in,  and  when  the  dance  is 
combined  with  it,  that  it  fully  comes  into  its  own.  "  The 
sentimental  or,  as  it  might  be  called,  the  egoistic  song,  in 
which  the  poet  or  singer  is  alone  with  himself,  as  it  were, 
is  not  known  to  the  old  North,  for  here  the  individual 
never  wanted  for  comrades  and  witnesses."  1 

The  refrain  assumes  a  somewhat  different  character 
when  it  undergoes  alteration  in  its  text,  namely,  when  indi- 
vidual words  or  phrases  are  changed  with  every  stanza  in 
order  to  bring  it  into  a  definite  relation  with  the  context 
of  the  stanza.  That  is  scarcely  in  accordance  with  the 
good  old  ballad  style.  The  result  is  that  the  singer  has  no 
chance  to  rest,  for  he  must  ever  be  reminding  his  com- 
pany of  what  they  shall  sing.  This  constant  adjustment 
to  every  stanza  easily  goes  over  into  something  trivial  or 
attenuated.  In  such  a  case  the  refrain  becomes  a  definite 
part  of  the  text,  whereas  it  almost  invariably  forms  a  con- 
trast. That  the  variable  refrain  can  be  used  with  great 
success  for  comic  purposes  is  brilliantly  demonstrated  by 
Baggesen's  familiar  song  of  "Sir  Ro  and  Sir  Rap"  ;  but 
this  instance  serves  also  to  disprove  the  supposition  that  the 
variable  refrain  permits  of  a  general  usage  in  the  ballads. 
And  in  a  lengthy  ballad,  whatever  the  contents  may  be,  the 
variable  refrain  will  become  downright  intolerable.  Even 
if  we  imagined  ourselves  to  be  present  at  the  singing  of  a 

1  Peder  Gronland,  in  Allgem.  musikal.  Zeitung,  1816,  column  597. 


THE  REFRAIN  89 

song  that  altered  its  refrain  with  every  stanza,  we  should 
not  find  the  aesthetic  result  satisfactory.  The  great  dearth 
of  ballads  that  possess  such  a  refrain  indicates  also  that 
here  lies  before  us  an  abnormal  case. 

The  truth  of  the  above  statements  is  borne  out  by  a 
consideration  of  every  one  of  these  ballads.  In  "  Young 
Ranild  "  (No.  28),  a  ballad  of  thirty  stanzas,  we  find  a 
continual  change : 

1.  Had  I  been  so  wise  !  said  Ranild. 

2.  I  am  not  greatly  afraid !  said  Ranild. 

3.  It  grieves  me  sore !  said  Ranild. 

4.  So  would  I  like  to  do  !  said  Ranild. 

It  is  evident  here  that  the  fore-singer  must  also  sing  the 
refrain,  since  his  company  could  not  be  expected  to  remem- 
ber what  fitted  in  with  each  individual  stanza.  On  the 
whole,  the  variable  refrain  seems  better  adapted  to  a  ballad 
that  is  to  be  written  down  than  to  one  that  owes  its  pres- 
ervation to  memory.  Although  "  Young  Ranild  "  may  be 
an  old  ballad,  yet  it  makes  use  of  a  number  of  modern 
expressions ;  it  is  found  only  in  a  single  manuscript,  that 
of  Anna  Basse's,  of  about  1600. 

Another  ballad,  "  Gralver  the  King's  Son  "  (No.  29), 
preserved  in  nine  texts,  of  which  four  belong  in  manu- 
script to  the  time  of  Frederick  II,  evinces  great  pains  and 
ingenuity  in  adapting  the  refrain  by  slight  changes  to  every 
stanza.  But  in  text  B,  which  is  preserved  in  a  manuscript 
from  the  time  of  Christian  III,  the  refrain  runs  constantly, 
"  Because  of  her  proud  Signild  beneath  Stjernfeld " ; 
likewise  two  of  Schoolmaster  Kristensen's  newly  recorded 
copies  have  a  constant  refrain,  "There  lies  a  worm  be- 
fore Isereland  upon  the  flood."  To  this  corresponds  the 


90  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

unchanging  refrain  found  in  two  Norwegian  copies,  "Be- 
cause there  lies  a  worm  upon  the  flood."  Grundtvig  says 
that  this  refrain  must  certainly  be  an  old  one  in  the  ballad 
here  in  Denmark.  Thus  all  warrant  for  the  variable  re- 
frain disappears. 

In  texts  A  (64  stanzas !)  and  B  of  "  Rane  Jensen's 
Marriage  "  (No.  48)  there  is  also  a  variable  refrain ;  but 
Vedel,  who  seems  to  have  used  only  B,  prints  the  ballad 
with  a  constant  refrain:  "I  have  often  been  told  — 
Although  I  am  banished  from  friends  and  comrades." 
The  same  refrain  is  also  found  in  No.  128  C  (manuscript 
of  1555). 

In  "  The  Mermaid's  Prophecy  "  (No.  42),  on  the  other 
hand,  Vedel  has  given  a  variable  refrain,  despite  the  fact 
that  his  source  ("  though  possibly  it  was  not  his  only  one  "), 
namely,  the  only  copy  preserved,  has  the  constant  double 
refrain  :  "  The  mermaid  dances  upon  Tillie  —  For  she  had 
obtained  her  will."  Kristensen's  copies  from  modern  times 
also  make  use  of  the  variable  refrain  (I,  No.  55;  II,  No.  82), 
but  since  their  only  source,  as  Grundtvig  declares,  is  Vedel's 
"  Book  of  a  Hundred  Ballads,"  they  do  not  count  for  much. 
A  corresponding  Swedish  ballad  (Geijer  and  Afzelius, 
No.  94)  does  not  employ  the  variable  refrain. 

The  two  copies  of  "Daniel  Boson"  (No.  421)  which 
were  recorded  in  olden  times  have  a  constant  refrain, 
while  the  six  from  modern  times  show  a  variable  one. 
The  Norwegian  form  of  "  Dalebu  Jonsen  "  cannot  be  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  class  of  ballads  with  variable 
refrains,  although  its  refrain,  "  Dost  know  Dalebu  Jonsen  ? " 
is  changed  in  the  sixteenth  and  last  stanza  to  "  Now  dost 
know  Dalebu  Jonsen  ? "  (Landstad,  No.  24).  In  like 


THE  REFRAIN  9 1 

manner  the  Swedish  form  (Arwidsson  No.  18)  has,  "  But 
he  was  one  !  —  For  he  was  one." 

Finally  we  can  cite  the  well  known  ballad  of  "  Sir  Lave 
and  Sir  Jon "  (No.  390)  with  the  trebled  refrain,  the 
middle  one  of  which  is  variable : 

You  are  well  prepared, 

I  ride  too,  said  Jon. 

Tie  up  the  helmet  of  gold  and  follow  Sir  Jon ! 

The  same  is  true  of  Kristensen,  I,  No.  62 ;  II,  No.  86. 
In  manuscript  this  ballad  goes  no  farther  back  than  to 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

These  investigations  seem  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
at  the  most  only  a  few  old  ballads  preserved  in  old  manu- 
scripts use  the  variable  refrain.  The  latter  was  in  accord, 
on  the  other  hand,  with  the  taste  of  the  times  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,  when  people  having 
grown  tired  of  much  that  belonged  to  the  older  form  of 
the  ballad  desired  a  change ;  at  the  same  time,  it  is  true, 
some  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  old  ballads 
were  thus  discarded. 

The  refrain  is  also  known  in  other  lands.  In  fact,  it  is 
found  in  folk  poetry  the  world  over.  In  the  refrain  the 
instinct  for  beauty  finds  one  of  its  favorite  modes  of  ex- 
pression, namely,  the  sense  of  rhythmic  recurrence,  the 
parallelism.1  But  I  doubt  if  the  refrain  has  anywhere  been 
felt  to  be  so  integral  a  part  of  the  ballads  as  in  the  Scandi- 
navian, and  especially  the  Danish,  ballads.2  It  follows  also 
from  the  epic  nature  of  our  folk  poetry  that  a  far  greater 
opportunity  here  offers  itself  for  the  contrast  which  a  lyric 

1  Talvj,  Charakteristik  der  Volkslieder,  p.  135. 

2  Cf.  also  Rosenberg,  Nordboernes  Aandsliv,  II,  531. 


92  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

refrain  presents.  The  refrain  is  found  in  Germany,  too, 
but  particularly  in  narrative  ballads,  and  by  no  means  so 
generally  as  in  Denmark.  Many  of  the  German  refrains 
are  doubtless  lost,  but  in  a  number  of  ballads  they  were 
wanting  originally. 

I  shall  now  call  attention  to  how  peculiarly  the  refrain 
and  the  text  proper  can  be  interwoven  in  the  Danish 
ballads.  In  "Memering"  (No.  14),  for  example: 

1 .  Memering  was  the  smallest  man 

That  ever  was  born  in  King  Karl's  land. 

My  fairest  maidens. 

The  smallest  man 
That  ever  was  born  in  King  Karl's  land. 

2.  Even  before  he  saw  the  light, 

His  clothes  already  for  him  were  dight. 

My  fairest  maidens. 

He  saw  the  light, 
His  clothes  already  for  him  were  dight. 

3.  Even  before  he  had  formed  his  gait, 
He  bore  the  armor's  weight. 

My  fairest  maidens. 

A  ballad  that  progresses  in  this  fashion  is  liable  to  prove, 
when  read,  tiresome  and  difficult ;  when  sung,  however,  it 
becomes  all  the  more  alive,  since  the  refrain  is  taken  up  by 
the  chorus.  But  the  question  involuntarily  arises,  Did  the 
fore-singer  join  in  also  with  the  repeated  lines  of  the  stanza? 
It  might  seem  plausible  to  wish  for  a  variation  here.  If  so, 
this  would  be  secured  provided  there  were  two  fore-singers, 
the  one  supporting  the  other  by  repeating  half  of  what  the 
first  sang,  and  thereby  leading  the  narrative  one  verse  for- 
ward. The  chorus  meanwhile  would  constantly  be  chiming 


THE  REFRAIN  93 

in  as  the  third  participant  in  the  execution  of  the  ballad. 
I  am  not  the  first  to  voice  this  theory ;  it  has  already  been 
advanced  by  Peder  Grdnland.1  But  this  interruption  and 
repetition  are  found  in  many  ballads,  such  as,  for  example, 
"  Hildebrand  and  Hilde  "  (No.  83) : 

1.  Proud  Hildelil  sits  in  her  bower  sewing, 
For  the  Danish  queen  a  cap  she  is  making. 

Sorrow  is  heavy  when  one  must  bear  it  alone. 

Sewing, 
For  the  Danish  queen  a  cap  she  is  making. 

2.  She  sews  with  gold  so  red 
What  calls  for  silken  thread. 

Sorrow  is  heavy  when  one  must  bear  it  alone. 

In  some  copies  of  this  ballad  this  repetition  is  not  found ; 
in  its  place  stands  a  double  refrain. 

Is  it  known  that  there  were  two  fore-singers  ?  Yes,  to 
be  sure.  We  read  in  Koster's  account  of  Ditmarsh  that 
the  fore-singer  "either  sings  alone  or  else  chooses  another, 
who  also  can  sing  the  song,  in  order  that  he  may  have 
assistance  and  relief.  "  2  In  Iceland,  likewise,  we  see  that 
the  song  was  divided  up  between  a  fore-singer  and  others, 
who  sing  in  response.  How  closely  the  fore-singer  and 
his  assistant  are  linked  together  in  the  Finnish  folk  poetry 
has  already  been  pointed  out. 

But  there  are  undoubtedly  many  ways  in  which  a  song 
could  assert  itself  that  are  now  not  at  all,  or  only  in  part, 
intelligible  from  the  appearance  which  the  ballad  makes 

1  Allgem.  musikal.  Zeitung,  1816,  column  598. 

2  De  Vorsinger,  de  wol  alleine  edder  ok  wol  einen  tho  sick  nimbt,  de 
den  Gesang  mit  singen  kan,  dat  he  ehne  entlichtere  unnd  helpe,  steidt 
unnd  hefft  ein  Drinkgeschir  in  der  Handt.  Dahlmann's  edition  of  Johann 
Adolfi's  (called  Neocorus)  "Chronik  des  Landes  Dithmarschen,"  I,  178. 


94  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

on  paper.  I  shall  merely  point  out  how  marvelously  the 
song  and  its  refrain  must  have  dovetailed  when  the  two 
fore-singers  led  off  the  singing ;  as,  for  example,  in 
"  Marsk  Stig's  Daughters  "  (No.  146) : 

FIRST  SINGER 

Marsti  had  two  daughters  fair, 

And  bitter  fate  fell  to  their  share. 

The  eldest  took  the  youngest  by  the  hand, 

CHORUS 
And  wide  they  roam  through  the  -world. 

SECOND  SINGER 

The  eldest  took  the  youngest  by  the  hand, 
And  so  they  journeyed  to  King  Malfred's  land. 
King  Malfred  home  from  the  meeting  rode. 

CHORUS 
And  wide  they  roam  through  the  world. 

FIRST  SINGER 

King  Malfred  home  from  the  meeting  rode ; 

Before  him  Marsti's  daughters  stood : 

"  What  are  these  women  that  I  see  here  ?  " 

CHORUS 
And  wide  they  roam  through  the  world. 

Since  we  have  ground  for  believing  that  the  delivery  of 
the  ballad  was  made  as  lively  and  dramatic  as  possible,  and 
since  we  know  from  the  account  just  given1  that  in  Ice- 
land the  stanza  was  divided  into  halves,  I  do  not  think  I 
am  wrong  in  assuming  that  the  ballad  was  sung  in  the 
manner  detailed  above. 

1  See  p.  87,  note  i. 


THE  REFRAIN  95 

Finally  it  would  be  perfectly  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
the  ballads  in  which  the  two  refrains  have  a  wholly  different 
trend  were  sung  each  by  its  own  circle ;  as,  for  example, 

MAIDENS.   Forget  me  not ! 
189  YOUNG  MEN.    She  stepped  so  stately! 

KNIGHTS.    Here  stand  the  Duke's  own  men. 
1 1 5  LADIES.   They  come  not  yet 

MAIDENS.    Step  boldly  up,  young  knight ! 
244  YOUNG  MEN.    Honor  the  maidens  in  the  dance ! 

We  might  also  conceive  of  a  portion  of  the  refrain  as 
devolving  upon  the  singer's  assistant,  and  the  remaining 
portion  upon  the  chorus ;  as,  for  example,  in  No.  278  : 

FIRST  SINGER 
Sir  Peter  mounts  and  rides  away. 

SECOND  SINGER 
While  the  cuckoo  calls. 

FIRST  SINGER 
He  meets  a  woman  who  greets  him  good  day. 

SECOND  SINGER 

Upon  the  balcony  walls. 

CHORUS 

In  the  tower  Malfred  is  weeping. 
In  the  grove  she  is  sorrowing. 

II.  BALLADS  WITHOUT  REFRAINS 

Should  the  refrain  be  regarded  as  an  essential  constit- 
uent of  our  ballads  ?  It  can  by  no  means  be  denied  that 
there  are  ballads  which  lack  refrains.  Geijer  has  answered 
the  question  thus  :  that  as  a  rule  refrains  go  with  a  ballad, 
but  that  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  adjunct  to 


96  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

the  ballads.  Nevertheless  it  may  very  confidently  be  as- 
serted as  a  fundamental  principle  that  the  popular  ballad 
is  invariably  attended  by  a  refrain,  and  that  every  ballad 
which  is  not  has  either  worn  it  out  in  the  course  of  time, 
or  else  is  assuredly  not  a  genuine  popular  ballad.  It  is  pre- 
cisely because  this  characteristic  is  so  marked  that  further 
investigations  on  this  point  are  necessary. 

In  Grundtvig's  collection  (completed  by  Axel  Olrik) 
there  are  four  hundred  and  eighty  published  ballads,  and 
about  forty  more  are  known  to  me  from  his  collected  writ- 
ings or  from  other  sources.  Among  these  half  a  thousand 
ballads  there  are  found  about  a  score  which  have  no  refrain. 
These  consequently  form  positive  exceptions  and  are  in 
no  position  to  affect  the  general  rule.  Since  the  ballads  were 
not  recorded  in  writing  until  long  after  their  genesis,  it  is  in- 
deed very  possible,  not  to  say  highly  probable,  that  the  ballads 
mentioned  have  lost  something  they  possessed  originally, 
especially  as  it  is  often  forced  upon  our  attention  that,  while 
the  refrains  are  missing  in  several  versions  of  a  recorded 
ballad,  they  are  present  in  other  forms  of  the  same  ballad. 

But  let  us  turn  to  the  above-mentioned  score  of  ballads 
to  see  whether  the  majority  of  them  do  not  present  some 
additional  peculiarities.  Among  these  I  find,  for  example, 
"The  Murdered  Housewife"  (No.  no),  which  was  re- 
corded in  1845  ;  "  Child  Jacob  "  (No.  253),  whose  earliest 
date  of  communication  is  1840  (and  one  of  the  texts  has 
a  refrain  yet) ;  "  The  Meeting  in  the  Woods  "  (No.  284), 
recorded  in  1868;  "Sir  Sallemand  "  (Abr.  No.  153),  a 
prosaic,  sentimental,  romantic  ballad,  which  ends  so : 

Never  was  told  a  tale  of  greater  love, 

Since  the  days  of  Tristram  and  his  lady  Isold. 


THE  REFRAIN  97 

In  addition  may  be  cited  an  artistic,  six-line  song  (Un- 
published No.  292)  and  the  ballad  "  The  Dialogue  of  Two 
Maidens"  (Unpublished  No.  291),  which  is  translated  from 
a  German  ballad,  "  Es  waren  einmal  zwei  Gespielen." 
The  absence  of  refrains  in  these  ballads  manifestly  does 
not  affect  our  consideration  of  the  question,  What  were 
the  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages  like  ? 

Another  example  of  this  group  is  "Agnete  and  the 
Merman "  (No.  38),  which  can  show  in  the  way  of  a 
refrain  only  a  tiresome  Haaja!  together  with  a  repetition 
of  the  last  line  of  its  two-line  stanza : 

Agnete  walks  on  Highland  bridge, 

There  mounts  a  merman  to  the  top  of  the  sea, 

—  Haa  ja !  — 
There  mounts  a  merman  to  the  top  of  the  sea. 

Grundtvig  has  been  slow  in  arriving  at  a  clear  decision 
over  this  ballad.  Although  he  was  obliged  to  admit  in 
the  second  volume  of  his  work  that  it  had  wandered  up 
into  this  country  "  only  a  few  hundred  years  ago,"  yet 
he  retracted  this  statement  immediately  afterwards ;  but  in 
his  fourth  volume  he  repeated  that  "at  a  comparatively 
late  period  it  had  emigrated  from  Germany  into  Denmark, 
although  it  is  impossible  to  state  more  explicitly  the  time 
and  the  way"  (II,  39,  66 1  ;  IV,  812).  The  possibility 
of  an  earlier  immigration  Grundtvig  would  meanwhile  re- 
luctantly abandon,  and  accordingly  he  included  the  ballad 
of  "  Agnete "  in  his  works  "  Heroic  Ballads  and  Folk 
Songs  of  the  Middle  Ages"  (1867,  No.  9)  and  "The 
Popular  Ballads  of  Denmark"  (1882,  II,  No.  6).  Here 
again  I  shall  confidently  assert  that  if  one  would  really 
know  what  the  poetry  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  like,  he 


98  THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

must  reject  everything  obscure  and  ambiguous  and,  above 
all,  everything  which  lacks  the  remotest  proof  to  substan- 
tiate its  claim  to  so  great  an  age.  And  this  applies  most 
peculiarly  to  the  ballad  of  "Agnete."  It  can  be  traced 
back  no  farther  than  to  a  printed  broadside  belonging  to 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  moreover  it  contains 
not  a  single  word,  not  a  turn  of  phrase,  not  a  glint  of 
anything  which  would  suggest  antiquity.1  It  is  impossible 
to  believe  otherwise  than  that  the  connection  with  the 
popular  poetry  of  the  outside  world,  which  we  know 
existed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  should  have  persisted 
in  the  following  centuries ;  and  in  such  a  manner  the 
ballad  of  "Agnete,"  like  many  others,  was  attracted  to 
this  country. 

This  situation  fits  in  admirably  with  what  Grundtvig  him- 
self has  noted  ;  namely,  that  in  contrast  with  those  Norse 
ballads  which  treat  of  a  similar  subject  (Nos.  37,  39,  and 
40)  this  ballad  exhibits  certain  distinguishing  marks  that 
point  to  Germany.  "  First,  the  name  Agnete  appears  in 
the  German  versions  as  Agnete,  Agnese,  Angnina,  An- 
nerle,  Hannale ;  second,  the  mention  of  Engelland  (she 
is  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  England),  her  enticement 
down  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  the  sea,  or  the  flood, 
in  contrast  with  her  enticement  into  the  mountain ;  the 


1  The  kinship  between  the  ballad  of  "  Agnete  "  and  Ewald's  "  Little 
Gunver"  is  rather  distant.  Ewald  meant,  if  anything,  to  imitate  the 
popular  ballad  in  general,  wherefore  he  also  provides  his  song  with  a 
refrain.  For  the  rest  he  might  well  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
ballad  of  "  Agnete  "  in  the  course  of  his  roving  life  in  foreign  lands, 
and  even  if  he  had  known  it  in  a  Danish  form,  we  could  still  maintain 
that  he  had  led  us  back  no  farther  than  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 


THE  REFRAIN  99 

sound  of  bells  and  the  going  to  church  ;  —  all  these  traits 
distinguish  the  borrowed  ballad  from  the  older  Norse 
ballad,  with  which  it  has  in  modern  tradition  blended 
itself."  To  this  I  can  add  that  precisely  such  an  excla- 
mation as  that  Haa  ja !  is  just  as  general  in  German 
ballads  as  it  is  rare  or  rather  wholly  unknown  in  Danish. 
In  his  popular  edition  of  the  ballads,  Grundtvig  has 
given  the  double  refrain  "  The  birds  sing  .  .  .  Beautiful 
Agnete ! "  one  of  the  refrains  with  which  it  is  sung  at 
present ;  but  that  this  is  not  good  ballad  style,  nor  in  the 
least  degree  smacking  of  the  Middle  Ages,  scarcely  needs 
to  be  asserted.  None  of  the  old  refrains  are  written  or 
sung  in  such  a  dreamy  mood.  This  ballad  has  therefore 
not  the  least  claim  to  consideration  when  the  discussion 
concerns  the  poetry  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

There  exist,  in  addition,  several  religious  ballads  which 
lack  refrains ;  such  as,  for  example,  "  The  Boyhood  of 
Jesus,  Stephan,  and  Herod  "  (No.  96).  The  ballad  was 
communicated  in  a  work  by  Erik  Pontoppidan,  which 
appeared  in  1736.  It  begins  as  follows: 

A  maiden  pure  is  born  to  earth, 

The  rose  among  all  women ; 

She  is  the  fairest  the  world  has  seen, 

And  she  is  called  the  Empress  of  heaven. 

No  less  modern  than  this  verse  are  the  remaining  verses. 
Over  half  of  the  eleven  stanzas  employ  terminal  rimes  in 
all  four  lines,  a  feature  wholly  foreign  to  the  ballads  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  Since  Grundtvig  groups  this  ballad  with 
the  Stephan  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages,  attention  must  be 
called  to  the  fact  that  only  the  three  following  stanzas  out 
of  the  eleven  have  to  do  with  Stephan,  and  that  not  even 


100         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

the  most  discriminating  critic  will  be  able  to  recognize  in 
them  the  style  of  the  Middle  Ages  : 

6.  Saint  Stephan  he  led  the  colts  to  drink, 
All  by  the  starry  glimmer ; 

"  For  surely  now  the  prophet  is  born 
Who  shall  save  all  sinners !  " 

7.  King  Herod  made  him  answer  thereto : 
"  I  do  not  believe  this  story : 

Save  that  the  roast  cock  on  the  table  will  crow 
And  flap  his  wings  so  sturdy !  " 

8.  The  cock  he  flapped  his  wings  and  crowed, 
Our  Lord  his  natal  hour : 

King  Herod  fell  down  from  his  royal  throne, 
And  swooned  for  very  sorrow. 

As  early  as  1695  this  last  verse  was  referred  to  by  Peder 
Syv  as  belonging  to  a  ballad  on  Christ's  boyhood ;  there 
are  found  also  Swedish  and  Faroese  ballads  on  Stephan, 
but  none  older  than  the  Danish.  When  one  assumes  these 
ballads  to  be  relics  from  our  Catholic  days,  he  fails  to  take 
into  account  the  fact  that  their  form  by  no  means  points 
so  far  back,  and  also  the  ready  possibility  that  many  foreign 
Catholic  ballads  were  later  conveyed  into  Denmark  orally. 
Several  investigators  have  interpreted  Saint  Stephan's  pat- 
ronage of  horses  as  an  offshoot  of  Frey's  relation  to  that 
animal  and  to  horse-racing  at  Yuletide ;  but  however  one 
explains  that  question,  the  solution  cannot  affect  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  ballad,  which  has  merely  appropriated  the 
popular  belief.  And  even  if  one  may  be  wholly  disinclined  to 
share  the  doubts  here  expressed,  he  can  place  no  reliance  on 
the  absence  of  a  refrain  in  the  Danish  ballad  as  proof  of  any- 
thing, for  that  seems  to  be  due  to  pure  accident ;  a  refrain 
is  present  in  both  the  Faroese  and  the  Swedish  versions. 


THE  REFRAIN  ioi 

A  refrain  is  also  wanting  in  "  Grimild's  Revenge " 
(No.  5).  This  ballad  presents  a  most  curious  situation, 
and  this  I  shall  dwell  upon  at  some  length,  since  in  many 
ways  its  striking  colors  illuminate  and  clarify,  by  way  of 
contrast,  what  is  genuinely  Danish  and  old  in  Denmark. 
It  treats  of  the  destruction  of  the  Nibelungs  and  relates 
how  Grimhild,  in  order  to  avenge  the  murder  of  her  hus- 
band, Sigfred,  sends  an  invitation  to  such  famous  heroes 
as  Hero  Hagen  and  Folkver  Spillemand.  Hagen  has  been 
disquieted  by  a  dream,  which  he  gets  a  mermaid  to  read 
for  him  ;  upon  her  finding  it  to  portend  evil,  he  slays  her. 
He  likewise  slays  a  ferryman  who  refused  to  row  him, 
and  thereupon  he  ferries  himself  across  to  Grimhild's 
land.  When  they  arrive  there  they  are  seized  by  the  fol- 
lowers of  Grimhild's  consort,  King  Kanselin,  but  Folkver, 
snatching  up  a  steel  bar,  slaughters  a  great  number  of 
his  foes.  The  king  himself  receives  a  severe  wound,  and 
Folkver  dies. 

I  entertain  no  doubt  that  Professor  Sophus  Bugge  has 
pointed  out  the  right  source  of  this  ballad.  Professor 
Gustav  Storm  would  maintain,  on  the  basis  of  certain 
peculiarities  in  narration,  that  it  had  borrowed  its  sub- 
stance from  the  Swedish  "  Didrik  Saga "  or  "  Didrik 
Chronicle,"  which  dates  from  the  years  1420-1450,  and 
not  from  German  sources.  Several  details,  however,  should 
be  credited  to  the  German  "  Heldenbuch  "  (printed  1477), 
which  the  author  of  the  ballad  probably  did  not  use  di- 
rectly ;  it  was  more  natural  to  assume  that  the  manuscript 
of  the  "  Didrik  Chronicle  "  which  he  used  contained  also 
this  borrowing  from  the  "  Heldenbuch."  Storm  differs 
in  his  interpretation  from  Doling,  whose  line  of  proof 


102         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

attempts  to  show  that  the  chief  sources  were  the  Norse 
"Thidrik  Saga"  (of  1250)  and  the  "  Nibelungenlied." 
In  opposition  to  these  views,  Grundtvig  points  out  that 
the  ballad  must  be  regarded  as  a  reshaping  of  a  Low 
German  ballad,  which  in  turn  stood  closely  related  to  the 
"  Nibelungenlied  "  ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  particular  connection  with  the  Norse  or  the 
Swedish  "  Didrik  Saga."  Moreover  the  Swedish  "  Chron- 
icle "  was  not  very  generally  known,  and  the  widely  spread 
Didrik  traditions  could  not  have  sprung  from  it.1 

Bugge's  arguments  seem  to  me  to  be  incontestable.  In 
content  the  ballad  clearly  approximates  most  closely  to  the 
sources  he  has  named,  and  the  linguistic  evidence  certainly 
points  toward  a  Low  German  form.  In  the  following  dis- 
cussion I  shall  have  occasion  to  repeat  the  greater  part  of 
Bugge's  proofs  ;  what  I  shall  bring  forward  must  be  looked 
upon  rather  as  a  continuation  of  Bugge's  line  of  argument. 
But  at  the  same  time  I  arrive  at  another  conclusion ;  namely, 
first  that  the  ballad  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  popular 
ballad,  and  next  that  it  belongs  to  a  very  late  period,  a 
period  much  more  recent  than  that  to  which  Gustav  Storm 
assigns  it. 

Bugge  calls  attention  to  the  remarkable  expression, 

A  2.  There  was  many  a  hero 

Who  should  part  with  (fordoie)  his  young  life. 

7.  Am  I  in  the  heathen  land 

To  part  (fordoje)  with  my  young  life. 

9.  You  are  parted  (fordoit)  with  your  young  life. 

1  Bugge  in  Grundtvig's  Folkeviser,  IV,  595ff. ;  Storm,  Sagnkredsene 
om  Karl  den  Store,"  pp.  197  if. ;  Boring  in  Hopfner  u.  Zacher,  Zeit. 
/.  d.  Phil.,  II,  274. 


THE  REFRAIN  103 

Beyond  a  doubt  fordoje  was  used  in  old  Danish  in  the 
sense  of  "to  waste,"  "to  squander  " ;  but  there  was  scarcely 
ever  a  time  when  it  could  mean  "  to  lose  one's  life."  Hence 
it  must  be  regarded  as  a  rendering  of  Low  German  vordo- 
den,  "  to  slay";  sik  vordon,  "  to  commit  suicide,"  in  mod- 
ern Dutch  zijn  kind  verdoen,  "to  kill  his  child." 
In  A  4  we  read  : 

Frem  da  gick  hun  Buodel 
Hellet  Hagens  moder : 
11  Mig  tocte,  de  fogle 
alle  dode  vaar." 

Forth  then  stepped  Buodel, 
The  Hero  Hagen's  mother; 
"  The  birds,  it  seemed  to  me, 
All  were  dead." 

Here  are  wanting  both  rime  and  assonance,  whereas  in 
the  model  upon  which  the  ballad  was  formed,  —  the  "  Nibe- 
lungenlied"  (Lachmann's  edition), — both,  as  Bugge  points 
out,  are  present : 

1449.  Mir  ist  getroumet  hinte 
von  engestlicher  n6t 
wie  allez  dasz  gefugele 
in  disme  lande  wasre  tot. 


In  verse  17, 


Saa  kast  hand  det  blodige  hoffuit, 

han  kaste  hende  udi  sund, 

saa  kaste  hand  kropen  effter 

han  bad,  de  skulde  findes  ved  grund. 

He  cast  away  the  bloody  head, 

He  cast  it  far  into  the  sound, 

So  cast  he  then  the  body  after, 

And  bade  at  the  bottom  they  both  be  found, 


104         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

we  find  the  same  rimes  as  in  the  "  Nibelungenlied  "  : 

1 502.  Er  sluoc  im  ab  daz  houbet 
unde  warf  ez  an  den  grunt : 
diu  maere  wurden  schiere 
den  Burgonden  kunt. 

Compare,  in  addition,  the  following  lines : 

B  25.  That  heard  Falcko  Spillemandt, 

And  over  the  table  he  sprang  (han  snart  offuer  borden  spranck) 

with  "  Nibelungenlied,"  1903  : 

von  dem  tische  spranc. 

In  B  22  slag  (blow)  does  not  rime  with  laa  (lay),  but 
the  corresponding  German  words,  slag  and  lag,  rime  well 
enough. 

It  may  safely  be  granted  that  Bugge  has  made  no  mis- 
take in  the  line  of  argument  he  has  chosen  to  follow.  At 
the  same  time,  according  to  my  belief,  it  leads  us  much 
farther. 

When  Hagen  steps  ashore  he  finds  a  marraminde 
(mermaid)  asleep  upon  the  bank.  The  language  of  the 
Middle  Ages  offers  us  no  clew  to  this  word,  although 
Anders  Vedel  uses  it  to  suit  himself  in  his  version  of  the 
ballad  on  the  Danish  "  Series  of  Kings"  (No.  115,  B  19). 
In  version  B  of  our  ballad  we  read  : 

6.  sig  mig  det,  god  marae, 

mon  du  est  en  kunstig  quinde : 
skal'jeg  paa  det  hedenske  landt 
forlade  unge  liiff  min. 

Tell  me  this,  good  marcs, 
An  thou  be  a  canny  woman : 
Am  I  in  the  heathen  land 
To  quit  my  young  life  ? 


THE  REFRAIN  105 

Grundtvig  ingeniously  suggests  that  here  we  should  read  : 
god  maramon  (mermaid)  Du  estt  etc.,  and  that  mon  is 
probably  Old  Norse  man  (girl),  whence  mareminde  (mer- 
maid), which  corresponds  to  the  German  mereminne.  But 
man  in  the  sense  of  girl  is  utterly  unknown  to  the  Danish, 
and  hence  it  will  not  do  to  relate  the  word  in  any  way  to 
the  Norse  form.  He  who  noted  down  the  ballad  heard 
sung  the  German  mereminne,  or  some  word  formed  upon 
it,  which  he  did  not  understand,  and  for  that  reason  he 
split  the  word,  as  it  stands  above.  In  the  other  transcript 
(A  6)  stands  mare-mynd,  which  is  prudently  glossed  haff 
fnte  (the  usual  Danish  for  "  mermaid  ").  As  for  the  rest, 
how  far  it  is  good  Danish  to  say  forlade  mit  unge  Liv 
(quit  my  young  life)  must  be  passed  by ;  Kalkar's  Diction- 
ary gives  no  parallel  to  this.  In  Low  German  the  expres- 
sion is  dat  levent  vorlisen  (ich  verliese  minen  Up  is  also  a 
standing  formula  with  the  German  minnesingers). 
Hagen  addresses  the  mermaid  so  : 

7.  Wake  up,  wake  up,  my  mermaid, 
Pretty  lande-viff! 

Bugge  remarks,  "  lande-viff  I  am  not  acquainted  with ; 
vande-viff  (water-wife)  would  give  us  a  quite  unknown  ex- 
pression for  '  mermaid.' "  It  seems  to  me  that  we  need  only 
to  look  to  the  Low  German  lantwif,  which  signifies  a 
"countrywoman,"  "a  girl  native  to  the  country  "  (Flensborg, 
"  Stadsret,"  §11:  "quaenaes  lanzman  til  by  eldasr  lanz- 
quinnae  giftaes  til  by :  gyft  sick  eyn  lantman  edder  lant- 
vrowe  in  de  stat "  [that  is,  if  a  country  man  marries  into 
the  city  or  a  country  woman  marries  into  the  city]). 

Hagen  thereupon  rides  saafriskelig  (so  heartily)  (stanza 
n)  into  the  heathen  land,  and  later  we  meet  the  expression 


106         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

tre  saafriske  helt  (three  such  hearty  heroes)  (stanzas  24,37). 
There  is  no  doubt  that  by  this  is  meant  "  intrepid,"  "  bold  "  ; 
but  when  it  is  objected  that  the  ballad  "  King  Didrik  and 
the  Lion  "  (No.  9,  B  2)  has  denfriske  Love  (the  bold  lion), 
we  may  reply  that  the  word  is  rarely  found  in  our  older 
tongue,  while,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  peculiar  to  the  heroic 
language  of  Germany.  In  the  unintelligible  stanza  15, 

Jeg  kommer  aldrig  i  den  stad 
jeg  tager  ey  for  hender  nod, 

"  I  never  come  to  such  a  state 
I  suffer  aught  for  her  sake," 

(meaning,  no  doubt,  "  I  am  never  so  situated  as  to  have 
need  of")  we  seem  to  note  the  presence  of  the  German 
nothebben  (with  the  genitive),  "to  have  need  of  something." 

1 8.  When  they  came  into  the  sound, 

A  storm  rose  up  ///  haan  (against  them). 

Bugge  compares  with  this  the  Old  Norse  til  handa ;  it  is 
true  that  Old  Danish  offers  examples  of  the  use  of  til 
hand,  but  in  Icelandic  and  in  Danish  (see  Kalkar's  Dic- 
tionary) til  hand  most  frequently  means  "  in  favor  of,"  "in 
support  of,"  whereas  a  storm  suggests  precisely  the  oppo- 
site. It  is  but  natural  to  call  to  mind  the  German  to  kant, 
the  usual  German  expression  for  "  at  once,"  "immediately." 
With  stanza  20, 

The  man  that  next  stepped  after  him, 
It  was  Falquor  Spilmand, 

can  be  compared  "  Nibelungenlied,"  1416, 

d8  kom  der  kiiene  Volke'r 
ein  edel  spilman. 


THE  REFRAIN  107 

Here  it  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Spilmand  is 
not  an  Old  Danish  word  and  never  appears  in  the  ballads  ; 
on  the  contrary,  we  have  "Folkvar  Spillemand"  in  Nos.  7 
and  8. 

23.  Den  ene  hand  forde  en  hog, 

er  det  sinner  skjold ; 

den  anden  hand  forde  en  feddel, 

en  hertugs  son  saa  bold. 

The  one  he  bears  a  hawk, 
It  is  (on)  his  shield ; 
The  other  he  bears  a  fiddle, 
A  brave  duke's  son  it  wields. 

The  second  line  assuredly  can  only  mean  :  ist  es  seiner 
schild  (a  hawk  was  pictured  on  his  shield),  and,  as  far  as 
fiddles  are  concerned,  they  are  never  found  in  the  ballads. 
The  popular  book  "  Lucidarius "  mentions  "  the  finest 
fiddle  that  one  may  hear  "  ;  otherwise  "  fiddle  "  is  first 
spoken  of  in  the  sixteenth  century  (see  Kalkar's  Dictionary 
under  Fidle).1 

25.  "  Let  them  now  all  come  in, 
Except  Hero  Hagen." 

27.  "  We  shall  hold  a  rend  (ra.cz)  to-day 
With  Hero  Hagen  (met  Helle  Hagen)." 

Bugge  remarks  that  here  we  must  read  "  Hagen  "  with 
the  accent  on  the  last  syllable.  If  we  change  the  word 
to  Hagenen  (nominative  Hagene\  as  it  is  generally 

1  In  Thomas  Gheysmer's  "  Chronicle,"  the  man  who  sang  before 
Erik  Eiegod  is  called  "  citharedus  vel  fiellator,"  since  apparently  a 
foreign  expression  was  used.  The  same  holds  true  of  the  "  Rimed 
Chronicle,"  which  tells  that  King  Erik  brought  a  "  Spelman  "  with  him 
from  Rome.  Cf.  A.  Olrik  in  "  Mindre  Afhandlinger,"  ed.  by  the  phil.- 
hist.  Samfund,  p.  265. 


108         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

found  in  the  German  text,  we  shall  have  made  good  the 
missing  syllable.  When  finally  we  run  across  stanzas  32,  33, 

In  nomine  domini,  said  Hero  Hagen, 
Now  goes  my  fiddle  well, 

we  learn  what  never  before  was  heard  of  or  known ;  namely, 
that  Latin  was  spoken  in  a  popular  ballad  ! 
As  for  text  B,  Bugge  has  compared  stanza  20, 

Her  maa  ingen  suerde 
paa  dett  slott  nu  drage, 

"  Here  must  be  no  sword 
Within  the  castle  worn," 

with  "  Nibelungenlied,"  1683, 

man  sol  deheiniu  wafen 
tragen  in  den  sal. 

One  will  notice  here  how  slavishly  and  laboriously  the 
Danish  text  follows  the  German,  and  how  the  verb  and 
the  word  it  governs  fail  to  stand  in  the  same  line  —  a 
style  foreign  to  ballads. 

By  this  time,  surely,  the  character  of  the  ballad  must, 
on  the  whole,  have  been  sufficiently  indicated.  To  press 
the  conclusion  home  I  shall  call  attention  to  the  following 
lines  and  to  the  remarks  subjoined  thereto : 

A  7.  Skal  jeg  til  den  hedenske  land 
fordoye  mit  unge  liff  ? 

"  Am  I  in  the  heathen  land 
To  part  with  my  young  life  ?  " 

This  must  be,  to  dent  lande. 

A  8.  Thou  art  a  knave  so  bold. 


THE  REFRAIN  109 

But  is  a  knave  (Kncegf)  mentioned  anywhere  else  in  the. 
ballads,  and  is  the  word  used  to  designate  a  warrior  ?  I 
recall  having  met  with  it  in  only  one  place,  namely,  in 
Vedel's  version  of  the  ballad  "  Queen  Margrete  "  : 

No.  1 59.  2.  King  Albret  with  his  knights  and  knaves  (Rytter  oc 

Knecte) 
And  they  would  go  to  Skaane ; 

where,  however,  all  the  older  texts  from  various  manu- 
scripts testify  against  Vedel :  "  King  Albret  and  his  good 
courtiers  (Hofmand}."  None  of  the  citations  in  Kalkar's 
Dictionary  are  older  than  the  sixteenth  century,  with  the 
exception  of  a  reference  in  an  Inventory  of  Agerhus 
Castle  from  1487,  which  says :  "  i  Knecktpill  with  6 
Dozen "  (Danske  Magazin,  3d  Series,  II,  14).  Such 
stanzas  as  the  following  have  miscarried  remarkably  in 
their  transit  to  Denmark : 

A    9.  Du  haffuer  paa  dit  eget  land 
Saa  meget  gods  saa  fri. 

10.  Det  vaar  sollige  marre-mind 
och  der  han  hoffdet  aff  hug. 

1 6.  Det  vor  den  sellige  ferri-mand, 
der  hand  hoffden  fra  hug. 

25.  Ud  stander  frue  Kremold 
I  siner  skind  gron. 

A    9.  You  have  at  home  in  your  own  country 
Castles  and  lands  so  free. 

10.  It  was  the  silly  mermaid 

Her  head  he  there  struck  off. 

1 6.  It  was  the  silly  ferryman, 
And  off  his  head  he  struck. 

25.  Forth  stands  Lady  Kremold 
Arrayed  in  green  fur. 


no         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  conclusion  there  are  found  everywhere  inversions  and 
absurd,  annoying  repetitions ;  such  as,  for  instance,  in 
stanza  17  :  "so  cast ...  he  cast ...  so  cast ...  he  bade." 

The  result  of  the  above  investigations  may  be  summed 
up  thus  :  Here  lies  before  us  a  translation,  often  meaning- 
less, of  a  Low  German  ballad,  characterized  by  faulty  meter 
and  faulty  Danish.  That  should  by  no  means  be  regarded 
as  a  Danish  form  which  has  been  patterned  after  a  Ger- 
man model,  itself  an  import  into  Denmark.  The  ballad 
is  frankly  a  translation,  made  particularly  by  the  pen,  a 
translation  that  could  never  have  resulted  in  a  singable 
ballad.  This  view  is  strikingly  confirmed  by  various  con- 
ditions. Because  of  its  form  and  meter  this  ballad  stands 
unique  among  all  other  ballads.  Both  versions  A  and  B 
are  written  in  eight-line  stanzas,  and  their  division  by 
Grundtvig  into  four-line  stanzas  (like  that  of  Vedel's  ear- 
lier) is  wholly  arbitrary.  Several  of  the  stanzas  have  now 
and  then  a  couple  of  lines  too  many.  Moreover  the  rhythm 
is  incontestably  foreign  to  that  of  the  average  popular 
ballad  ;  it  is  based  on  a  meter  that  is  ordinarily  never  found 
in  Denmark,  namely,  that  of  the  "  Nibelungen  "  stanza 
(more  of  this  later).  Then,  too,  the  absence  of  a  refrain 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ballad  was  never  intended 
for  singing.  Of  not  the  least  significance  is  the  fact  that 
the  ballad  is  preserved  in  only  one  manuscript,  namely, 
Svaning's,  and  then  in  the  composite,  final  section  of  the 
manuscript,  where  it  appears  in  two  different  places. 
Hence  this  ballad,  in  all  probability,  never  boasted  of  a 
wide  circulation ;  it  progressed  no  farther  than  a  single 
manor,  where  some  German  servant  made  it  known  to  the 
housewife,  who  wrote  it  down  twice.  Or  more  likely,  the 


THE  REFRAIN  in 

German's  fellow-servants  attempted  to  give  the  ballad  a 
Danish  dress,  which,  however,  did  not  fit  well ;  this  would 
account  for  the  two  copies  of  it. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  assuming  that  a 
Danish  ballad  with  so  meaningless  a  verse,  with  so  faulty 
and  unintelligible  a  language,  with  so  unsingable  a  form, 
would  have  been  taken  up  by  popular  tradition.  It  has 
been  preserved  by  the  pen  and  is  quite  late,  certainly  as 
late  as  the  sixteenth  century. 

Clearly,  notwithstanding,  this  ballad  has  a  certain  amount 
of  interest.  It  manifests  to  us  the  vital  energy  of  the 
"  Grimhild  Saga,"  and  instructs  us  concerning  an  unknown 
German  poem ;  through  its  wholly  incongruous  character 
it  enables  us  to  understand  the  remainder  of  our  ballads. 
But  its  worth  lies,  not  in  its  holding  up  to  view  a  sample 
of  ballad  style  prevailing  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  in  its 
furnishing  a  contrast  to  such  a  style. 

With  respect  to  the  ballad  of  "  The  Nightingale " 
(No.  57),  Grundtvig  has  gradually  come  to  the  right  con- 
clusion. In  the  second  volume  of  his  work  he  had  already 
pointed  out  its  close  relation  to  foreign  versions ;  the  fol- 
lowing comparison  will  show  what  a  family  resemblance 
exists  between  it  and  a  Netherlandish  ballad  : 

i.  I  know  well  where  a  castle  stands, 
And  it  is  bedecked  so  richly 
With  silver  and  the  red,  red  gold, 
With  carved  stones  walled  rarely. 

i.  Daer  staet  een  clooster  in  oostenrijc, 
Het  is  so  wel  ghecieret 
Met  silver  ende  rooden  gout, 
Met  grauwen  steen  doormoeret. 


112         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

6.  Art  thou  a  wild  bird  alone  in  the  world 
And  no  man  doth  know  thee ; 
Hunger  will  nip  thee,  and  cold  and  snow 
That  falls  on  thy  way  so  lonely. 

6.  Sidi  een  clein  wilt  voghelken  stout, 
Can  u  gheen  man  bedwinghen, 
So  dwinghet  u  die  haghel,  die  coude  snee 
Die  loovers  vander  linden. 

Still  these  strophes  are  not  entirely  conclusive,  since  they 
belong  to  a  kind  of  unsettled  lyrical  verse  which  recurs 
in  various  Swedish  and  German  ballads.  But  the  entire 
atmosphere  of  the  ballad  is  foreign. 

In  the  Danish  ballad  the  nightingale  tells  the  knight 
that  she  is  a  young  girl  who  has  been  metamorphosed 
by  her  stepmother.  She  is  captured  by  the  knight  and 
imprisoned  in  a  cage.  She  then  undergoes  various  trans- 
formations, ending  up  in  the  shape  of  a  serpent ;  when  the 
knight  cuts  the  serpent  with  his  knife,  it  turns  into  a 
maiden,  the  daughter  of  an  Egyptian  king.  Although  the 
corresponding  foreign  ballads  tell  no  such  story  of  enchant- 
ment and  disenchantment,  yet  Grundtvig  entertains  no 
doubt  that  the  ballad  originates  in  a  foreign  type,  "  its  rich 
lyricism  and  its  land  of  Egypt  invest  it  with  a  decisively 
foreign  appearance  "  ;  yet  he  adds,  "  to  regard  one  of  them 
(the  Danish  or  the  Swedish  text)  as  a  matter-of-fact  trans- 
lation made  by  the  pen  from  another  language  is  forbidden 
by  nothing  more  than  the  defective  rime  of  the  text,  for 
this  bears  earmarks  of  having  been  taken  up  by  popular 
tradition  before  it  came  into  print."  Later  Grundtvig  has 
been  more  clearly  impressed  with  the  ballad's  "lack  of 
genuine  popular  foundation,"  and  with  the  fact  "  that  from 


THE  REFRAIN  113 

the  first  it  has  worn  an  untraditional  guise  with,  in  part,  a 
more  artistic  (though  certainly  not  a  prettier)  form  than 
belongs  to  the  genuine  popular  ballad.  It  once  had  com- 
plete rime,  whereas  now  it  lacks  even  the  ordinary  half- 
rime  "  (III,  833).  Grundtvig  has  also  pointed  out  that 
no  Danish  tradition  appears  independently  of  the  broad- 
side in  which  it  first  came  out.  Since  this  ballad  is  dated 
from  the  time  of  Frederic  IV,  having  been  "printed  in  the 
year,"  say  somewhere  previous  to  1721,  it  seems  to  me  to 
be  a  simple  matter  to  name  the  ballad  rightly.  It  is  not 
a  popular  ballad,  but  it  is  a  street  song,  translated  from  the 
German  by  some  poet  of  Holberg's  day. 

A  ballad  which  Grundtvig  has  treated  with  great  fullness 
is  "Fair  Anna"  (No.  258);  it  takes  up  forty  pages  of 
his  text  and  is  accompanied  by  a  general  synopsis.  Beyond 
a  doubt  it  has  figured  as  the  most  popular  ballad  of  the 
past  few  centuries.  It  tells  of  an  abducted  king's  daughter, 
who  had  been  bought  by  a  knight  and  kept  as  his  mistress, 
becoming  by  him  the  mother  of  seven  sons.  The  knight 
concludes  later  to  take  another  woman  as  his  wife.  When 
the  concubine  offers  wine  to  the  bride,  the  latter  looks 
curiously  at  the  sorrowing  woman  and  asks  her  name. 
Thus  she  discovers  that  Fair  Anna  is  her  husband's  mis- 
tress, and  even  learns  that  she  is  her  own  sister.  She 
then  withdraws,  and  Anna  becomes  the  lawful  wife.  The 
ballad,  which  is  found  in  two  of  our  oldest  manuscripts, 
—  Sten  Bille's  and  Karen  Brahe's  (c.  1 5  50),  —  resembles 
very  closely,  as  Grundtvig  has  pointed  out,  a  German  and 
a  Netherlandish  ballad.  If  we  now  examine  text  A,  we 
shall  find  the  following  striking  conditions  : 
i .  Der  red  en  Mur  ad  stellen  ud ; 


114         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

that  is  to  say,  there  rode  a  Moor  out  for  to  steal. 
2.  Fair  Anneck  is  she  called. 

This  German  form  of  the  name  is  found  throughout  the 
entire  ballad. 

17.  I  give  to  her  my  new  mills  all 
That  lie  on  the  plains  so  wide ; 
And  they  grind  out  the  cinnamon  meal, 
And  nothing  else  besides. 

30.  She  let  fall  many  bitter  tears 
Down  into  the  cup  they  sank. 

See  the  Netherlandish  form  (Grundtvig,  App.  3,  V,  17) : 

zii  liet  er  alzoo  menigen  traan 

al  in  de  gouden  wijnschaal  zinken. 

38.  Had  I  now  a  lansquenet  good 
Of  honor  and  of  price, 
Who  would  follow  me  all  through  the  land 
Like  as  a  faithful  wife. 

19,  23.  Fair  Anneck,  myfrynd-ynne  (a  female  friend). 

These  specimens  indicate  sufficiently  well  that  here  we 
have  to  do  with  a  German  importation ;  for  our  ballads  in- 
deed never  deal  with  Moors,  cinnamon,  or  lansquenets  — 
who  first  arose  in  Germany  at  the  conclusion  of  the  fif- 
teenth century.  The  language  is  superlatively  un-Danish. 
Frynt,  for  Ven  (friend),  unquestionably  found  its  way  into 
Denmark  during  the  sixteenth  century,  but  scarcely  earlier. 
No  instance  of  it  prior  to  this  time  is  recorded  in  Kalkar, 
and  hardly  ever  is  it  met  with  in  the  ballads.  In  Langebek's 
Quarto  Manuscript  of  the  time  of  Frederic  II,  is  found  the 
phrase  (No.  2546)  "With  great  frynt-lighed  (friendship) 
she  received  him  "  ;  the  other  two  manuscripts  of  B,  and 
also  the  other  texts,  have  "  With  great  tucht  (propriety)." 


THE  REFRAIN  115 

The  other  two  texts  of  "  Fair  Anna "  belonging  to 
the  sixteenth  century  exhibit  German  forms  of  words  to 
a  less  degree : 

B  27.  Take  with  thee  thy  kamer-viff  (lady  of  honor, 
German  kammerweib), 

but  such  a  mode  of  address  and  such  a  splitting  up  of  the 
speech  as  follows,  though  common  to  all  the  forms  of  this 
ballad,  whether  of  our  time  or  of  that  of  the  earliest  re- 
corded copy,  is  unknown  to  our  other  ballads  : 

B  4.  Fair  Anne  is  to  his  mother  gone ; 
11  Mother !  "  said  she,  "  lady ! 
Will  you  ask  your  own  dear  son 
If  me  he  will  promise  to  marry  ?  " 

12.  Her  lord  is  to  Fair  Anne  gone ; 
"  Anne,  my  trust,  my  treasure  ! 

What  gifts  do  you  intend  for  my  noble  bride, 
Will  surely  give  her  pleasure  ?  " 

13.  "  Gifts  enow  I  '11  give  to  her, 

My  king !  "  said  she,  "  my  master ! 
I  '11  give  to  her  my  seven  bold  sons, 
Of  whom  I  am  the  mother." 

14.  "  That  is  not  a  generous  gift, 
Anne,  my  trust,  my  treasure ! 
Other  gifts  you  must  give  to  her, 
If  you  hold  dear  my  pleasure." 

15.  "  Then  I  '11  give  her  gifts  enow, 
My  king !  "  said  she,  "  my  master ! 
I  '11  give  to  her  your  own  dear  self, 
And  I  live  alone  hereafter." 

This  mode  of  address,  together  with  the  attempt  to 
employ  two  titles  on  either  side,  runs  throughout  the 
whole  ballad.  For  counterparts  to  this  usage  our  other 


Ii6         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

ballads  yield  nothing ;  besides  it  conflicts  with  all  ballad 
style  to  introduce  "said  she"  in  the  middle  of  a  verse- 
line  and  in  direct  discourse.  Foreign  texts,  on  the  contrary, 
furnish  parallels  to  this  practice  :  "  och  moeder,  zeide  ze, 
landsvrouwe  !  "  or  "  koning  Alewijn,  zeide  ze,  heere  !  " 

Whatever  else  comes  to  light  in  the  Danish  texts  of 
this  ballad,  thus  much  is  certain :  none  of  them  represent 
the  genuine  style  of  the  Danish  popular  ballad ;  some  of 
them  are  German  in  language,  and  version  A  exhibits 
marks  of  the  translation,  which  add  in  no  way  to  its 
aesthetic  value.  Grundtvig  declares  that  the  ballad  "  could 
scarcely  be  dated  back  farther  than  about  1400."  The 
facts,  however,  stand  as  follows :  The  ballad  was  written 
down  in  Denmark  in  1550,  and  even  at  that  time  it  bore 
most  distinctly  telltale  marks  of  its  homeland ;  so  over- 
whelmingly present  are  these  that  the  language  is  mean- 
ingless. Hence  it  failed  to  get  its  German  accent  rubbed 
off ;  if  we  then  concede  that  it  was  translated  into  Danish 
during  the  sixteenth  century,  we  surely  give  to  the  ballad 
all  its  due.  It  does  no  more  than  indicate  the  nature  of 
the  taste  obtaining  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  it  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  fifteenth  century  or  with  the  Middle 
Ages.  It  presents  an  incongruous  appearance  in  the  com- 
pany of  our  other  ballads.  If  the  art  of  song-writing  had 
been  known  here  in  Denmark  in  the  fifteenth  century,  it 
certainly  would  have  exerted  a  lasting  and  unmistakable 
influence  on  Danish  song-writing. 

In  "  True  as  Gold  "  (No.  254)  we  have  likewise  a  foreign 
ballad  in  Danish  guise.  A  young  man  meets  a  maiden, 
who  is  listening  to  the  song  of  a  bird,  and  proffers  his  love 
to  her ;  but  she  replies  that  she  already  has  a  good  friend. 


THE  REFRAIN  117 

He  then  removes  his  hat  from  his  head  and  discloses 
himself  as  her  lover.  The  foreign  and  somewhat  learned 
tone  is  repeated  in  practically  all  of  the  texts.  Such  verses 
as  these,  for  example,  run  through  nearly  all  versions  : 

A  3.  I  listen  to  peace  and  the  song  of  birds 
In  this  the  summer's  verdure. 

10.  The  birds  they  sang  in  a  shady  dale, 
The  nightingales  in  song  were  wooing ; 
They  both  were  afraid  of  calumny's  tale, 
Which  ever  is  joy's  undoing. 

C  10.  The  birds  did  sing  within  the  dale, 

Lady  Nightingale  in  song  was  wooing. 

Compare  Grundtvig,  App.  3,  V,  I  : 

Darauf  da  sitzt  Frau  Nachtigall, 

Das  kleine  Waldvogelein  vor  dem  Wald. 

The  ballad  has  near  relatives  in  a  number  of  lands,  and 
its  whole  bearing  shows  its  remoteness  from  the  general 
popular  style.  The  popular  ballad  falls  short  of  such 
properly  constructed  verse.  Especially  open  to  suspicion 
is  the  precision  of  such  lines  as  "  I  hold  a  youth  so  dear 
in  my  heart,"  "  With  all  decorum  (Titgt]  she  received  him 
then."  (Bb  has  here  "  With  great  friendliness  \Fryndt- 
lighed']  she  received  him  then.")  Our  ballads  are  not  at 
all  given  to  speaking  of  so  abstract  a  thing  as  calumny, 
which  is  joy's  undoing  (more  of  this  later) ;  they  do  not 
treat  of  a  youth  and  a  maiden,  but  of  Sir  Oluf  and  Young 
Else.  Hence  one  is  no  more  surprised  to  find  that  a 
refrain  is  wanting  than  he  is  to  find  that  texts  A,  B,  and  C 
begin  the  narrative  in  the  /-form  (though  they  conclude  in 
the  third  person),  for  both  of  these  features  are  character- 
istic of  the  German  ballad. 


n8         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

"  Little  Karen  "  (No.  101)  is  built  upon  the  old  legend 
of  St.  Catherine,  whom  the  emperor  attempts  to  make  his 
mistress.  She  firmly  defends  her  virtue,  and  as  a  result  she 
is  cast  into  the  tower,  there  to  suffer  the  painful  tortures 
of  being  broken  upon  the  wheel  and  stuck  full  of  spikes. 
The  ballad  exists  here  in  the  North  only  in  modern  copies  ; 
yet  Peder  Syv  mentions  a  "  St.  Karen's  ballad."  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  found  a  series  of  German  ballads  on 
St.  Catherine,  one  of  which  is  so  nearly  akin  to  a  Swedish 
ballad  as  to  suggest  that  the  ballad  was  translated  either 
from  the  German  into  the  Swedish  or  from  the  Swedish 
into  the  German.  Grundtvig  considers  the  original  to  have 
been  Swedish,  whereas  Bergstrom  and  Hoijer1  take  the 
opposite  view.  Six  out  of  the  seven  Danish  versions  have 
no  refrains  and  go  to  the  other  extreme  in  a  repetition 
of  the  first  or  of  both  lines  in  a  stanza.  The  seventh 
form  has  the  refrain  "  Yes,  it  is  you  I  was  engaged  to  in 
my  youth,"  which  is  also  found  in  version  M  of  "  Ribold 
and  Guldborg"  (No.  82).  It  is  certainly  difficult  to  make 
good  the  assumption  that  this  ballad  can  be  assigned  to 
the  Middle  Ages ;  we  have  far  greater  reason,  or  even 
right,  to  regard  it  as  having  been  imported  from  Germany 
into  Denmark  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Why,  indeed, 
should  the  importation  have  been  impossible  at  this  period  ? 
At  a  very  recent  date,  as  Bugge  has  pointed  out,  the  bal- 
lad has  strayed  from  Sweden  into  Eastdale  in  Norway, 
and  an  almost  perfect  Danish  form  has  forced  its  way 
even  up  to  Telemark  (II,  546,  III,  895).  As  a  final 
proof  of  its  modern  character  let  me  call  attention  to  its 

1  E.  G.  Geijer  och  A.  A.  Afzelius,  Svenska  Folkvisor ;  new,  much 
enlarged  edition,  ed.  by  R.  Bergstrom  and  L.  Hoijer,  1880. 


THE  REFRAIN  119 

meter,  which  is  altogether  different  from  that  of  all  other 
ballads ;  this  feature  will  be  dwelt  upon  more  precisely  in 
the  following  chapter. 

"The  Bald  Monk  "  (No.  15)  sings  of  one  of  those  in- 
trepid monastic  characters  which  were  not  infrequently  the 
subject  of  song  and  popular  tradition  in  the  later  periods 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  Twelve  warriors  lie  in  ambush  before 
the  cloister  gate  and  kill  the  oxen  and  cows  of  the  monks. 
Upon  this  the  bald  monk  snatches  up  a  heavy  ax,  and, 
engaging  in  combat  with  them,  slays  them  all.  Seized  by 
a  sort  of  Berserker  fury  the  monk  rushes  out  into  the 
woods,  where  he  meets  a  trold,  whom  he  puts  to  such  hard 
straits  that  the  trold  in  order  to  persuade  his  foe  to  leave 
off  must  surrender  to  him  a  large  amount  of  gold  and  silver. 
On  his  return  home  to  the  monastery  the  monk  continues 
his  violent  behavior,  mistreating  his  brother  monks  and 
striking  out  one  of  the  abbot's  eyes.  The  monks  therefore 
conclude  to  choose  him  for  their  abbot. 

Some  of  the  verses  must  have  been  badly  remembered  ; 
as,  for  example : 

7.  de  skreff  krensen  (Kredsen)  paa  den  lord, 
de  quad  huer-ander  en  vise ; 
det  vil  jeg  for  sanden  sige : 
det  vaar  saa  beesk  en  lise. 

They  wrote  a  circle  upon  the  ground 
They  sang  each  one  a  ballad ; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
It  was  relief  so  wretched. 

In  others  German  words  appear  : 

9.  He  fain  then  would  be  walking  (spatzere). 


120         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Stanza  13  has:  "He  struck  the  monk  on  the  tonsure 
(plade)"  where  plade  is  the  German  word  Platte,  that 
is,  "tonsure." 

Only  one  version  of  the  ballad  is  extant,  and  that  be- 
longs to  a  broadside  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Although 
the  printed  ballad  in  this  case  is  virtually  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  we  have  no  reason  to  assume  that  the  ballad  origi- 
nally lacked  a  refrain  merely  because  one  is  not  found  in 
the  broadside. 

In  "Henry  of  Brunswick"  (No.  114)  Henry  has  gone 
away  to  fight  the  heathen ;  he  bade  his  wife  to  wait  for 
him  seven  years  and  not  to  put  a  hare  in  the  bear's  den. 
Henry  is  taken  prisoner  by  the  heathen  and  is  compelled 
to  draw  the  harrow  and  the  plow.  One  day  he  sees  a  lion 
and  a  serpent  fighting  together ;  he  assists  the  lion,  who 
thereupon  follows  him  about  as  faithfully  as  though  he  were 
his  hound.  He  sits  down  upon  a  stone  and  falls  asleep. 
Then  an  angel  appears  and  leads  him  seven  hundred  miles 
to  Brunswick,  where  he  arrives  just  as  his  wife  is  about  to 
marry  another.  The  following  verses  will,  I  believe,  suffi- 
ciently indicate  the  character  of  this  ballad  : 

A  i.  The  Duke  of  Brunsvig, 

hvor  finder  man  ien  iginn  nu  slig !  x 
All.  Du  laeg  aldrig  Hare  in  Bjornens  Leie. 
12.  Fangen  blev  Hertugen,  det  var  vaerre. 
1 8.  Saa  underlig  Ting  emthyrit  ham. 
25.  Saa  underlig  Ting  wyndthyres  han. 
28.  Du  saette  Dig  neder  og  hvile  Dig, 
men  jeg  vil  bede  min  Skaber  for  Dig. 

1  Cf.  "  Persenober,"  stanza  4  (Brandt,  II,  35) :  "man  finder  ikke  nu 
mange  slig"  (one  finds  not  now  many  such). 


THE  REFRAIN  121 

I.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick, 

Where  will  one  find  again  now  such ! 

1 1 .  Never  lay  a  hare  in  the  bear's  den. 

12.  A  captive  was  the  Duke,  that  was  true. 
1 8.  So  wonderful  a  thing  befell  him. 

25.  So  wonderful  a  thing  he  had  to  endure. 
28.  Now  sit  you  down  and  rest  you, 
But  I  shall  pray  my  Maker  for  you. 

If  it  were  really  true  that  the  language  of  the  old  ballads 
knew  a  verb  emthyre,  "  to  experience,"  "  to  endure,"  such 
a  word  would  have  been  found  in  daily  use,  for  so  largely 
is  the  language  of  our  ballads  a  part  of  common  speech  ; 
but  this  is  not  the  case.  Just  as  little  do  the  ballads  speak 
of  "  my  Maker,"  and  just  as  little  do  they  speak,  on  the 
whole,  in  the  language  of  this  ballad.  It  presents  essen- 
tially nothing  more  than  the  character  of  a  rimed  tale. 

Two  forms  of  the  ballad,  A  and  B,  are  found ;  but  B, 
according  to  Grundtvig,  bears  throughout  "the  stamp  of 
an  untraditional  revision  "  ;  "it  seems  to  be  an  arbitrary 
revision,  for  which  A  has  furnished  the  basis,  but  for 
which,  in  addition,  was  used  another  genuine  copy,  which 
is  not  now  known."  A  is  found  in  Karen  Brahe's  Folio 
Manuscript  and  in  two  other  manuscripts,  which  had  a 
common  source,  but  the  first-named  manuscript,  accord- 
ing to  Grundtvig,  furnishes  the  oldest  and  best  text.  The 
text  is  written,  however,  in  six-line  stanzas,  of  which  the 
first  and  second  lines  are  a  repetition  of  the  last  line  and  a 
half  of  the  preceding  stanza ;  the  third  and  fourth  lines 
rime  together,  likewise  the  fifth  and  sixth.  B  has  four- 
line  stanzas  with  the  first  and  second  lines  riming,  and 
the  third  and  fourth ;  the  repetition,  however,  is  absent 
(though  it  may  have  been  present  originally).  Hence  only 


122         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Ab  and  Ac  have  the  general  two-line  stanza,  of  which 
one  and  a  half  lines  are  repeated  ;  but  it  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful whether  this  form  is  not  a  reworking  and  an  expansion 
of  the  heterogeneous  form,  by  which  it  was  forced  more 
into  the  general  style  of  the  popular  ballad. 

"  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  "  (No.  103)  is  a  rather 
dull  and  unpoetic  composition ;  its  three  Swedish  forms 
have  the  following  introductory  stanza  : 

Praised  be  the  Virgin  Mary 

And  her  well-blessed  Son ! 

A  ballad  will  I  sing  to  you, 

It  was  made  on  the  knight  St.  Orrian. 

"  Beyond  a  doubt  such  a  stanza  was  present  in  our 
ballad  too,"  says  Grundtvig.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  ro- 
mances and  the  religious  poetry  of  the  monasteries  come 
into  close  touch  with  each  other.  In  the  Battle  of  Brun- 
kebjerg  (1471)  the  Swedes  are  said  to  have  sung  the  ballad 
of  "  St.  George."  Possibly  that  is  the  one  which  has  been 
preserved ;  though  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  the  ballad 
could  serve  as  a  war  ballad.  At  any  rate  it  dates  from  the 
late  Middle  Ages,  and  it  properly  belongs  to  the  romances. 

The  historical  ballad  "The  Defeat  in  Ditmarsh " 
(No.  170)  (1500  A.D.)  is,  as  Grundtvig  says,  "composed 
in  an  entirely  new  style,  —  the  allegorical,"  and  it  "has 
a  verse-form  differing  from  that  of  every  other  old  popular 
ballad.  Nevertheless  it  is  neither  an  art  form,  nor  even  a 
rimed  chronicle,  but  a  genuinely  popular  ballad;  it  was 
the  property  of  the  people  and  remained  so  down  to  the 
time  when  half  a  century  later  it  was  put  to  paper.  All 
three  versions  are  much  distorted,  first  by  oral  tradition, 
and  second  by  the  pen."  Of  the  ballad's  aesthetic  worth  I 


THE  REFRAIN  123 

shall  not  speak  here.  Thus  much,  at  all  events,  is  certain  : 
the  ballad  with  its  stanzas  in  from  three  to  five  lines,  with 
its  whole  vacillating,  enigmatical,  and  allegorical  character, 
is  such  a  departure  from  the  hundreds  of  other  ballads  that 
it  cannot  enter  into  any  discussion  of  the  general  structure 
of  the  popular  ballad.  The  closing  lines  of  version  B, 
"  this  says  the  boy  who  accompanied  the  host,"  remind 
one  of  the  German  historical  ballads,  in  which  the  con- 
clusion often  states  that  the  ballad  was  sung  "von  einem, 
der  auch  dabei  gewesen." 

There  are  found  a  few  other  ballads  which  lack  refrains ; 
but  these  are  cases  where  the  refrain  has  been  lost.  The 
most  noteworthy  of  these  is  "  Niels  Ebbeson  "  (No.  1 56),  a 
genuine  popular  ballad ;  in  none  of  its  five  forms  nor  in 
Vedel's  text  is  there  any  refrain.  The  ballad  must  conse- 
quently be  regarded  as  a  peculiar  exception.  Yet  there  is 
no  doubt  that  only  by  an  untoward  chance  was  it  robbed 
of  what  it  originally  possessed. 

The  results  of  the  foregoing  detailed  investigations  may 
be  summed  up  thus.  There  are  extant  only  a  very  few 
ballads  which  possess  no  refrains,  and  in  the  majority  of 
these  cases  the  absence  of  this  feature  should  certainly  be 
charged  to  an  accidental  loss  attendant  upon  the  course 
of  time.  With  a  few  of  these  exceptions,  the  lack  of  a  re- 
frain is  peculiarly  significant,  in  that  a  close  examination 
makes  them  stand  forth  as  ballads  that  do  not  belong  to 
the  Middle  Ages,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  Danish  popular  poetry. 
Several  of  them  were  imported  into  Denmark  during  either 
the  last  two  hundred  years  or  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries ;  others  are  downright  translations,  bearing  both 
in  their  language  and  in  their  form  marks  of  their  original 


124         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

nature  and  birthplace  ;  others  again  can  be  looked  at  only 
as  pseudo-popular  ballads,  since  they  appear  neither  to 
have  been  sung  nor  to  have  been  constructed  for  being 
sung,  but  simply  and  solely  to  have  been  written.  As  a 
consequence  they  are  met  with  in  only  one  manuscript. 

In  the  next  chapter,  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  gen- 
uine ballad  style  and  genuine  ballad  tone,  and  to  investi- 
gate what  is  unique  in  the  contents  and  spirit  of  the  ballads, 
we  shall  meet  with  these  same  ballads  again.  If  one  should 
be  of  the  opinion  that  a  sentence  of  "guilty  "  ought  hardly  to 
be  passed  upon  all  the  ballads  just  analyzed  above  (though 
certainly  they  must  be  classed  as  suspects),  still  it  will  cause 
no  surprise,  at  any  rate,  to  find  again  later  on  the  same 
ballads  in  the  felon's  dock  prosecuted  for  other  offenses. 


CHAPTER  V 
RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY 

My  investigations  in  this  chapter  will  cover  the  outer 
form  and  appearance  of  the  ballads.  The  metrical  struc- 
ture of  the  ballads,  however,  I  shall  not  discuss  in  any 
great  detail.  That  has  already  been  done  very  competently 
by  Ernst  von  der  Recke  and  by  Carl  Rosenberg.  I  dare 
not  lay  claim  to  any  special  knowledge  in  that  field,  nor 
can  I  bring  to  bear  any  new  observations.  But  precisely 
because  Von  der  Recke 's  researches  lead  to  several  of  the 
same  conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived  independently, 
I  shall  give  a  brief  account  of  the  ballad  meter. 

Using  the  terms  proper  to  the  metrical  art  of  the  classics, 
we  may  describe  the  basic  form  of  the  ballads  to  be  iambic 
dimeter,  with  a  strophe  of  two  or  four  lines.  It  is  seldom, 
however,  that  we  find  the  iambic  measure  intact ;  its  place 
may  be  taken  by  the  anapaest,  and  the  dancing  step  of  the 
choriambus  —  a  single  arsis  followed  by  an  anapaest  —  is 
often  heard.  On  the  whole,  great  freedom  prevails.  I  have 
had  to  search  for  several  days  to  find  so  regular  a  verse 
as  this : 

No.  114  (B  51), 

Du  rag  mit  Skjaeg,  Du  to  mit  Haar ! 
saa  maa  Du  se  mit  dybe  Saar. 

"  You  shave  my  beard,  you  wash  my  hair, 
So  you  may  see  my  wounds  laid  bare." 
125 


126         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

No.  31  (A  1 6), 

End  haver  jeg  an  danske  Hest, 
er  f  6'dt  i  Saebylund ; 
hver  Sinde  ban  til  Mollen  gaar, 
da  baer  han  femten  Fund. 

"  And  I  have  yet  a  Danish  horse 
Was  born  in  Saebylund ; 
And  ev'ry  time  he  goes  to  mill 
Bears  fifteen  hundred  pounds." 

Hence  it  is  purely  by  reconstruction  that  we  meet  the 
iambic  dimeter  as  a  basic  form.  In  view  of  the  great  free- 
dom in  which  the  rhythm  moves,  it  may  well  be  regarded 
as  a  fixed  rule  that  each  verse-line  consists  of  four  (or 
three)  accented  syllables,  with  one  or  several  unaccented 
syllables  in  between  each  pair  of  accents. 

The  two-line  strophe,  which  is  perhaps  the  oldest,  holds 
its  own  throughout  the  entire  Middle  Ages  down  to  their 
conclusion  and  into  the  sixteenth  century.  But  the  lan- 
guage meanwhile  had  undergone  a  change  which  must  have 
exercised  an  influence  on  the  verse  measure  ;  the  termina- 
tions disappeared,  being  supplanted  by  prepositions ;  the 
unaccented  particles  became  numerous,  and  the  articles 
assumed  prominence.1  This  evolution  forced  out  the  old 
metrical  system,  making  way  gradually  for  a  broader 
rhythm,  which  created  a  place  for  extra  syllables  in  the 
verse.  Thus  the  two-line  strophe  took  on  an  expanded 
form. 

Ernst  von  der  Recke  has  illustrated  the  change  in  the 
ballad  structure  by  a  comparison  of  the  following  verses  : 

1  Rosenberg  in  Nordisk  Tidsskrift,  issued  by  the  Letterstedtska 
Foreningen,  1883,  p.  294. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  127 

Icelandic :     Forste  Terning  paa  Tavlbord  randt, 
Svenden  table,  Jomfruen  vandt. 

Norse :     Forste  Guldterning  paa  Tavlebord  randt, 

Ungersvend  table,  skjon  Jomfru  hun  vandt. 

Danish  (E) :     Den  forste  Gang   Guldterning  over  Tavlebordet 

randt, 
den  Baadsmand  han  table  og  Jomfruen  vandt 

Danish  (C) :     Den  forsle  Gang  Guldterning 
over  Tavlebordet  randt, 
den  liden  Baadsmand  table, 
og  den  skjon  Jomfru  vandl. 

Icelandic :     The  first  dice  over  the  checkerboard  ran, 
The  youth  he  lost,  the  maiden  won. 

Norse :     The  first  gold  dice  over  the  checkerboard  ran, 
The  young  man  lost,  the  fair  maid  she  won. 

Danish  (E) :     The  first  time  the  gold  dice  over  the  checkerboard 

ran, 
The  boatman  he  lost  and  the  maiden  won. 

Danish  (C) :     The  first  time  the  gold  dice 
Over  the  checkerboard  ran, 
The  litlle  boalman  losl 
And  Ihe  fair  maid  she  won. 

We  can  thus  readily  see  how  the  number  of  accents  has 
increased  and  how  the  rhythmical  movement  has  changed. 
The  dimeter  has  been  expanded  by  means  of  small  addi- 
tions, exchange  of  words,  and  embellishments,  first  in  the 
direction  of  the  anapaest,  and  next  in  that  of  the  paeon, 
until  the  paeon  (w  w  w  __)  breaks  over  into  two  pure  iambics 
(^_^_).  We  then  fall  back  upon  the  old  fundamental 
iambic  foot,  but  with  a  doubled  number  of  arses,  for  an 
accent  has  stepped  in  between  the  accents  originally 


128         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

contiguous.1    This  accounts  for  the  appearance,  among 
other  things,  of  the  so-called  Little  Karen  strophe : 

Og  hor  Du,  liden  Karen,  og  vil  Du  vaere  min, 
syv  silkestukne  Kjoler  dem  vil  jeg  give  Dig. 

"  And  hear  thou,  little  Karen,  and  if  thou  wilt  be  mine, 
Seven  silk-embroidered  dresses  I  promise  will  be  thine." 

This  strophe  has  reproduced  some  of  the  peculiarities 
of  the  Nibelungen  verse  (which  I  shall  presently  discuss), 
namely,  the  use  of  a  pause  after  the  third  foot  (Kar-en, 
Kjo-ler),  and  its  dipodic  structure.  These  two  styles  of 
verse,  however,  are  not  wholly  identical.2 

Here  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  unique  situation  in 
which  we  again  meet  this  ballad  of  Little  Karen  (No.  101). 
In  the  preceding  chapter  I  pointed  out  that,  on  other 
grounds,  it  is  a  late  ballad,  which  was  brought  over  into 
Denmark  from  Germany  in  the  course  of  the  seventeenth 
century  (p.  118);  now,  on  metrical  grounds,  it  proves  to 
be  a  foreign  import.  Several  of  the  ballads  recently  found 
in  Jutland  appear  to  have  adopted  the  same  metrical  sys- 
tem as  that  of  the  Little  Karen  ballad.  The  late  Swedish 
ballads  especially  have  made  general  use  of  it,  and  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  that  language  is  better  adapted  to  such  a  sys- 
tem, since  Swedish  words  often  have  a  secondary  accent 
where  the  Danish  have  a  wholly  unaccented  syllable  (Dan. 
hellige,  Sw.  heligd),  which  could  easily  become  weak  after 
a  pause  (Dan.  og  alle  de  Guds  Engle,  Sw.  och  alia  smd 
Gudsenglar)  .3 

1  Recke,  Principerne  for  den  danske  Verskunst,  I,   101 ;   Recke, 
Dansk  Verslsere,  §  93. 

2  For  a  more  detailed  treatment,  see  Rosenberg,  in  Nordisk  Tids- 
skrift,  1883,  p.  502.          8  Rosenberg,  in  Nordisk  Tidsskrift,  p.  501. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  129 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  two-line  and  four-line  strophes, 
we  find  in  some  ballads  a  very  peculiar  metrical  system. 
In  "  Sivard  and  Brynild  "  (No.  3),  for  instance,  we  have  : 

i.  Sivard  han  haver  en  Fole, 

den  er  saa  spag. 

Han  tog  stolt  Brynild  af  Glarbjerget 
om  lysen  Dag. 

3.  Stolten  Brynild  og  stolten  Signild, 

de  Jomfruer  to, 
de  gaar  dennem  til  Strande, 
deres  Silke  at  to. 

i.  Sivard  he  has  a  filly, 

A  gentle  wight. 

He  bore  proud  Brynild  away  from  Glarbjerg 
In  broad  daylight. 

3.  The  proud  Brynild  and  the  proud  Signild, 

The  maidens  twain, 
They  went  down  to  the  seashore 
Their  silks  to  clean. 

Likewise  in  "  The  Betrothed  in  the  Grave  "  (No.  90) : 

11  Du  stat  op,  stolten  Elselille, 

luk  op  din  Dor ! 
jeg  kan  saa  vel  Jesu  Navn  naevne 

som  jeg  kunde  for." 

Op  staar  stolten  Elselille 

med  Taare  paa  Kind : 
saa  lukker  hun  den  ddde  Mand 

i  Buret  ind. 

"  Get  up,  get  up,  proud  Elselille, 

Open  the  door ! 
I  can  name  the  name  of  Jesus  as  well 

As  I  could  before." 


130         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Up  then  rose  proud  Elselille 

With  tearful  face ; 
She  let  the  dead  man  then  enter 

Into  the  place. 

In  version  B  of  this  ballad  the  meter  has  already  begun 
to  disintegrate.  A  similar  phenomenon  is  apparent  in  a 
number  of  ballads,  in  which  the  old  rhythm,  such  as  that 
above,  can  but  faintly  be  made  out  through  its  disguise. 
This  meter  is  not  found  in  many  ballads ;  the  few  that 
may  be  named  are  :  "Proud  Elin's  Revenge  "  (No.  209), 
"  Peder  and  Duke  Henry  "  (No.  334),  "  Hagen's  Dance  " 
(No.  465  ;  see  above,  p.  12),  Unpublished  No.  42,  and 
Kristensen,  I,  No.  65;  II,  Nos.  n,  27. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  rhythm  is  old.  Rosenberg 
surmises  that  the  following  stanza  from  an  Icelandic  sa- 
tirical ballad  (1221  A.D.,  "  Sturlunga  Saga,"  VII,  c.  44) 
once  possessed  the  same  meter : 

Loptr  er  f  eyjum  Lopt  er  paa  Oerne, 

bftr  lunda-bein ;  gnaver  Ben  af  Lunde  (Fugl) ; 

Saemundr  er  d  heidum,  Saemund  er  paa  Hederne, 

etr  berin  ein.  spiser  ikkun  Baer. 

Lopt  is  on  the  islands, 
He  gnaws  the  legs  of  puffins ; 
Saemund  is  on  the  moorlands, 
He  lives  on  berries  alone. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  an  accent  ought  to  fall  on 
bitr  and  etr  combined  with  a  weak  secondary  accent ;  in 
other  words,  the  second  and  fourth  lines  contain  three 
beats.  This  indeed  is  confirmed  by  one  of  the  manuscripts, 
in  which  the  fourth  line  runs  :  "  ok  etr  berin  ein."  Hence 
the  above  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  the  parent  of  this 
ballad  measure. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  131 

The  most  peculiar  feature  of  this  rhythm  is  that  the 
first  and  third  lines  form  a  decided  contrast  to  the  second 
and  fourth.  While  the  first  line  goes  dancing  upon  the 
tiptoes,  the  second  marches  along  beating  time  ;  one  feels, 
as  it  were,  the  heavy  tread.  I  shall  touch  again  upon  this 
feature  when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  melodies. 

The  metrical  system  discussed  above  is  far  removed  from 
that  of  the  Nibelungen  verse.  The  latter  is  well  known 
in  the  poetry  of  Denmark.  It  consists  of  eight  lines,  of 
which  the  second  and  the  fourth,  and  the  sixth  and  the 
eighth,  rime  in  pairs  and,  as  a  rule,  have  masculine 
endings ;  whereas  the  other  lines,  likewise  riming  in 
pairs,  have  feminine  endings,  with  a  characteristic  pause 
at  the  end  of  the  first,  third,  fifth,  and  seventh  lines ;  or, 
to  speak  more  technically,  in  place  of  the  fourth  arsis  in 
an  imperfect  iambic  tetrameter  line  stands  a  pause,  which 
makes  up  a  component  part  of  the  rhythm  itself.  This  is 
the  most  obvious  token  of  this  kind  of  verse.1  The  genuine 
old  Nibelungen  verse  has,  in  addition,  the  peculiarity  of 
an  extra  arsis  in  the  eighth  line ;  that  is,  four  complete 
accents  make  up  the  eighth  line. 

This  last  characteristic  has  slipped  out  of  the  verse  of 
our  modern  poets  who  have  composed  in  this  kind  of 
meter,  and  the  strophe  has,  on  the  whole,  suffered  some 
small  modifications.  To  recall  the  rhythm  to  mind  I  subjoin 
as  a  specimen  a  stanza  from  Ohlenschlager's  "  Helge  "  : 

Da  sagde  Konning  Helge : 
af  tvende  haarde  Kaar 
det  blideste  vi  vaelge, 
som  Helten  vel  anstaar. 

1  Recke,  Verskunst,  I,  178  ff.,  II,  68  ff. ;  Verslaere,  chap.  viii. 


132         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Jeg  seiled  over  Vandet 
med  Kaemper  og  med  Mod, 
men  jeg  vil  skaane  Landet, 
og  jeg  vil  spare  Blod. 

Then  spoke  the  good  king  Helge : 
"  Of  two  conditions  hard 
Why  let  us  choose  the  lesser, 
Befits  both  knight  and  lord. 
I  sail  far  o'er  the  water, 
With  men  of  fearless  mood, 
To  lands  I  shall  give  quarter, 
And  shall  also  spare  blood." 

At  first  sight  one  might  be  tempted  to  scan  this  form  as 
being  made  up  of  iambic  lines  of  six  feet  with  an  anapaest 
in  the  fourth  foot.  But  then  one  would  miss  precisely  what 
is  most  characteristic  of  this  verse,  namely,  the  accent  which 
falls  in  between  the  third  and  fourth  arses  (Hel-ge).  Here 
one  must  imagine  the  arsis  which  the  ear  demands  as  being 
replaced  by  a  pause. 

The  Nibelungen  strophe  can  undergo  a  series  of  mod- 
ifications without  the  groundwork  of  its  form  being  in  any 
way  disturbed.  The  second  syllable  of  the  thesis  can  be 
dispensed  with  (Des  antwurte  Stvrif) ;  the  pause  can  be 
shoved  forward,  two  thesis  syllables  in  two  adjoining  feet 
can  be  omitted  (Wol  df,  sprach  Sivrif),  and  so  forth.  The 
metrical  system  is  extraordinarily  rich,  capable  of  being 
expanded  and  contracted  with  wonderfully  expressive  varia- 
tions, and  with  a  wealth  of  forms  surpassing  all  other 
systems.1  According  to  Recke's  computation  50,000  mil- 
lions of  combinations  can  appear  in  the  eight-line  strophe ; 

i  Recke,  Verskunst,  II,  68  ff. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY 


133 


but  in  spite  of  the  multiplicity  of  variations,  the  verse  still 
holds  its  own  character  unimpaired. 

Not  the  slightest  trace  of  this  meter  is  to  be  found  in 
our  popular  ballads,  although,  to  be  sure,  the  two  rhythms 
have  at  times  been  likened  with  one  another,  especially 
since  the  theory  has  originated  that  herein  is  to  be  found 
the  source  of  the  Little  Karen  strophe.  The  features  which 
differentiate  the  two  meters  so  sharply  are  the  absence  in 
the  ballad  both  of  the  above-mentioned  pause  and  of  the 
four  accented  syllables  in  the  last  line  of  the  stanza,  and 
the  failure  to  exhibit  a  double  arsis,  which  the  elision  of 
the  syllables  of  the  thesis  should  create.  An  exception  is 
exemplified  in  one  ballad,  namely,  "  Grimild's  Revenge  " 
(No.  5).  Grundtvig  has  remarked  the  kinship  existing  be- 
tween this  ballad  and  the  "  Nibelungenlied  "  ;  he  has  set 
up  in  parallel  columns  verses  from  the  German  poem  and 
from  the  ballad  of  "  Grimild  "  in  order  to  establish  the  like- 
ness, but  without  going  so  far  as  to  pass  judgment  upon 
the  rhythm  of  this  ballad.  Both  Rosenberg  and  Recke 
have  meanwhile  shown  adequately  that  the  meter  of  this 
ballad  is  wholly  out  of  keeping  with  that  of  the  other 
Danish  ballads,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  have  pointed  out 
its  correspondence  with  that  of  the  Nibelungen  verse.  A 
comparison  will  easily  make  this  apparent : 


D6  wuohs  in  Niderlanden 
eins  richen  kiineges  kint, 
des  vater  der  hiez  Sigemunt, 
sin  muoter  Sigelint, 
in  einer  richen  biirge, 
witen  wol  bekant, 
nidene  bi  dem  Rine : 
diu  was  ze  Sdntdn  genant. 


Det  var  Fru  Kremold, 

hun  lod  Mjoden  blende : 

det  var  saa  mangen  fri  Helled, 

hun  Buden  efter  sende : 

"  Dubeddennem  kommetil  Orlog, 

Du  bed  dennem  komme  til  Krig ! 

der  skal  saa  mangen  fri  Helled 

forlade  sit  unge  Liv !  " 


134        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  sinen  besten  ziten,  Det  var  Helled  Hagens  Moder, 

bi  sinen  jungen  tagen,  hun  dromte  saa  underlige, 

man  mohte  michel  wunder  at  den  gode  Fole  styrte, 

von  Sivride  sagen.  som  han  skulde  hen  ride : 

waz  eren  an  im  wiichse  "  Den  Drom,  han  haver  at  saede, 

und  wie  schone  was  sin  lip.  kjaere  Sonne  min  ! 

sit  heten  in  ze  minne  Vogte  Dig  alt  fuld  saare  vel, 

diu  vil  watlichen  wip.  Din  Soster  forraader  Dig !  " 

"It  was  Dame  Kremold, 
She  set  the  mead  a-brewing ; 
There  was  many  a  bold  hero 
Her  summons  would  be  rueing : 
1  Go  bid  them  come  to  battle, 
Go  bid  them  come  to  fight ! 
There  is  so  many  a  young  hero 
Is  doomed  to  lose  his  life ! ' " 

"  It  was  Hero  Hagen's  mother, 
She  dreamed  so  uncannily, 
That  the  good  filly  stumbled 
He  was  to  ride  away : 
'  The  dream  it  will  be  fateful, 
My  son,  so  dear  to  me ! 
Guard  thyself,  I  warn  thee  well, 
Thy  sister  is  false  to  thee ! '  " 

In  the  words  Orlog,  Moder,  styrte,  scede,  one  can  readily 
notice  the  pauses  spoken  of  above ;  the  elided  theses  appear 
most  characteristically  in :  "  Det  var  Fru  Kremold,  hun 
lod  Mjoden,  .  .  .  '  Du  bed  dennem,'  "  etc.  Accordingly 
there  is  no  question  that  in  this  one  ballad,  out  of  the  whole 
store  of  ballads,  we  meet  with  the  Nibelungen  verse.  Here 
I  have  additional  proof  to  bear  out  my  assertion,  which  I 
have  maintained  on  many  other  grounds,  that  this  ballad 
should  by  no  means  be  regarded  as  a  popular  ballad.  It 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  135 

is  not  a  reworking  or  a  reshaping  of  a  German  ballad ;  it 
is  a  translation  of  a  foreign  text. 

I  shall  now  make  some  comments  on  the  origin  of  the 
strophe  of  the  popular  ballads.  Several  critics  —  for  exam- 
ple, N.  M.  Petersen,  Grundtvig,  and  Rosenberg  —  have 
expressed  the  belief  that  the  two-line  strophe  must  be  the 
oldest.  Rosenberg  has  proposed  further  the  theory  that  the 
four-line  strophe  has  developed  from  the  two-line  strophe 
by  absorbing  the  two  refrains  Qhe  Indstev  and  tiiQEfterstev1) 
and  making  them  a  component  part  of  the  text.  Ernst  von 
der  Recke  has  rejected,  on  good  grounds,  it  seems  to  me, 
such  an  assumption.  He  calls  attention  to  the  facts  that 
in  an  overwhelming  number  of  cases  in  which  this  double 
refrain  occurs,  the  first  refrain  is  short,  the  second  long,  — 
as,  for  example,  "  Med  Raade  —  Kong  Valdemar  han  lover 
dem  baade,"  —  and  that,  in  metrical  respects,  this  type  is 
more  perfect  than  that  of  two  equally  long  lines,  since  the 
Indstev  clearly  discovers  itself  to  be  a  Bistev  (secondary 
refrain)  and  the  Efterstev,  a  Hovedstev  (principal  refrain).2 
Hence  the  ordinary  form  of  the  refrain  does  not  lead  to 
the  supposition  that  the  two  refrains  formed  a  transition 
to  the  four-line  stanza. 

For  a  connecting  link  one  must  rather  by  far  look  to 
the  ballad  form  where  the  first  and  second  refrains  rimed 
together.  But  this  type  is  comparatively  rare.  Rosenberg 
has  cited  as  an  example  of  a  transitional  form  "  The  Mer- 
maid's Prophecy"  (No.  42),  where  the  first  refrain  runs 
constantly,  "  Den  Havfrue  danser  paa  Tillie,"  while  the 

1  Note  by  translator :  The  Indstev  comes  after  the  first  line,  and  the 
Efterstev  after  the  second  line,  of  a  two-line  strophe. 

2  Recke,  Verskunst,  I,  114  ff. 


136         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

last  refrain  varies  :  "  For  him  skal  fremme  min  Villie," 
"  Nu  haver  jeg  fremmet  Din  Villie,"  "  Da  fremmed  hun 
ikke  min  Villie,"  etc.,  thus  to  a  certain  extent  becoming  a 
part  of  the  strophe.  This  example  does  not  seem  to  be 
happily  chosen,  since  Vedel  alone  has  given  this  variable 
refrain.  The  old  text  in  Svaning's  manuscript,  which  was 
Vedel's  source,  shows  without  variation  :  "  For  [once  men] 
hun  haver  [havde]  fremme  hendes  Villie."  Finally  the 
variable  refrains  are,  on  the  whole,  as  was  pointed  out 
above,  such  a  late  product  and  so  incongruous  with  the 
entire  essence  of  the  ballad  that  they  surely  could  not  have 
exercised  such  an  influence  on  the  basic  form  of  the  ballads. 

I  do  not  believe  that  we  are  in  any  position  to  point 
to  any  transition  between  the  two-line  and  the  four-line 
stanzas,  and  I  am  far  rather  inclined  therefore  to  agree 
with  Ernst  von  der  Recke,  who  advances  the  theory  that 
the  four-line  stanzas  of  the  Heroic  Ballads  made  their  way 
up  into  Denmark  from  Germany  along  with  the  subject 
matter,  which  in  general,  to  be  sure,  has  been  brought  to 
us  from  the  South.  For  confirmation  of  this  one  needs 
but  to  call  to  mind  all  that  has  been  advanced  concerning 
the  traditions  dealing  with  Dietrich  of  Bern. 

According  to  N.  M.  Petersen,  the  two-line  stanza  of  the 
Heroic  Ballad  had  its  origin  in  the  old  Norse  KvtiSuhdtt 
(name  of  an  Icelandic  verse).  Hence  such  a  stanza  as  this 
(from  the  "  Voluspd  ") 

6nd  }>au  ne  dttu  Spirit  they  had  not, 

6$  t»au  ne  hofSu  And  mind  they  had  not, 

Id  ne"  laeti  Blood  nor  voice 

nd"  litu  g<5£a  Nor  fair  appearance.1 

1  Taken  from  "  The  Elder  Edda,"  by  Olive  Bray,  p.  283.— Translator. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  137 

should  be  reconstructed  so  that  the  first  and  second  lines 
would  form  the  first  line  of  the  two-line  stanza  of  the 
Heroic  Ballad,  the  other  two  its  second.  Rosenberg  sub- 
scribes to  this  theory,  which  he  finds  strengthened  by  the 
appearance  presented  by  some  of  the  earliest  recorded 
ballad  stanzas.  To  this  end  he  cites  a  fragment  of  a  ballad 
met  with  in  a  runic  manuscript  of  about  1300  :  "  Dromde 
mik  en  drom  i  nat  um  silki  ok  aerlik  pael  [psel  —  some 
costly  stuff]  "  (I  dreamed  a  dream  late  last  night  of  silk 
and  the  velvet  fine),  and  another  fragment  discovered  in 
an  old  Swedish  manuscript  of  1420-1450  : l 

Redhu  kompana  redhobona  (Faellerne  rede  redebonne) 
iwer  thiockka  skogha 
oc  gildo  met  synd 
venisto  jomfrw. 

The  company  rode  ready 
Through  thick  forests 
And  beguiled  into  sin 
The  fairest  maiden. 

Here  where  the  verse  contains  alliteration,  the  resemblance 
ought  presumably  to  be  striking.  Rosenberg  then  compares 
the  verses  in  this  manner  : 

la"  ne"  lasti  dromde  mik  redhu  kompana 

ne"  litu  gdfta         en  drom  i  nat         redhobona 

Meanwhile  Rosenberg  himself  has  set  forth  an  objec- 
tion to  this  theory.2  He  remarks  that  in  the  KviSuhatt 
every  accent  is  equally  strong,  whereas  in  the  line  "  Dromde 
mik  en  drom  i  nat,"  the  second  and  fourth  accents  are 
weaker  than  the  first  and  third.  And  this  is  precisely  the 

1  Fornsvenskt  Legendarium,  p.  877. 

2  Nordboernes  Aandsliv,  II,  412. 


138         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

case  with  all  ballads ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  ballad  verse 
has  a  far  more  nimble  and  rapid  movement  than  has  the 
KviSuhatt.  Rosenberg  brings  to  light  still  another  point 
which  might  induce  one  to  look  upon  the  KviSuhatt  as  the 
source  of  the  two-line  strophe  ;  namely,  that  in  our  ballads 
a  pause  is  perceptible  (Dronning  Dagmar  ligger  —  i  Ribe 
syg,  "  Queen  Dagmar  lay  —  in  Ribe  sick  ").  This  incision 
in  the  line  is,  as  he  presumes,  general  and  seems  to  point 
to  a  keen  desire  on  the  part  of  him  who  first  invented  such 
a  verse  to  hear  each  portion  of  the  verse  by  itself.  Or,  in 
other  words,  in  that  place  where  the  two  short  lines  of 
the  KviSuhatt  have  grown  together,  a  scar  is  noticeable. 
Recke  has  satisfactorily  established,  however,  that  no  such 
pause  is  found  in  the  verse-line  ;  if  such  had  been  present, 
one  would  never  have  been  permitted  to  set  polysyllables 
with  two  accents  exactly  across  the  alleged  gap  (Det  maa 
nu  hver  Danekvinde  vide,  "  That  now  may  each  Danish 
woman  know  "),  as  often  happens  to  be  the  case.1 

As  an  additional  objection  to  the  theory  of  descent  from 
the  KviSuhatt  Rosenberg  himself  urges  that  it  is  inex- 
plicable why  only  half  of  the  KviSuhdtt  strophe  should  be 
used  to  form  the  ballad  verse ;  whereas  the  last  four  short 
lines  ought  to  have  formed  two  more  ballad  lines.  Further- 
more the  remaining  ornamentations  of  the  ballad  rhythm 
differ  wholly  from  those  of  the  KviSuhatt.  In  the  meas- 
ure of  the  latter,  end-rime  is  never  found,  but  alliteration 
appears ;  and  Rosenberg  admits  that  in  the  ballads  the 
alliteration  is  "  never  sought  for  as  a  regular  embellish- 
ment." I  shall  point  out  below  that  alliteration  plays  no 
part  whatever  in  the  ballads.  Finally  the  refrain  is  an 

1  Recke,  Verskunst,  I,  109  ff. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  139 

indispensable  part  of  the  ballad.  For  the  rest  I  shall  merely 
remark,  with  reference  to  the  old  ballad  verses  cited  above 
in  parallel  form,  that  there  exists  some  difficulty  in  using 
them  as  examples,  because  they  are  the  opening  verses, 
which  very  often  possess  a  firmer  structure  than  does  the 
body  of  the  text,  and  besides  are  composed  in  a  meter 
that  varies  from  that  of  the  stanzas  following.  On  the 
whole,  it  is  best  to  leave  alone  the  question,  How  did  the 
meter  of  our  ballads  arise  ?  There  is  only  one  thing,  I 
believe,  which  can  be  asserted  in  all  reason,  and  that  is 
that  we  gain  nothing,  but  rather  involve  ourselves  in  con- 
fusion and  obscurity,  by  taking  the  verse  laws  of  old  Ice- 
landic prosody  as  a  starting  point  for  comparisons.  It 
holds  good  here,  as  in  so  many  other  instances,  with 
respect  to  the  form  and  subject  matter  of  the  ballads,  that 
one  arrives  at  a  far  more  correct  judgment  if  he  bears  in 
mind  the  great  distance  and  the  glaring  differences  between 
the  ballads  and  the  poetry  of  antiquity. 

We  shall  next  consider  the  rime.  The  ballads  have 
syllabic  rime ;  that  is,  the  final  vowel  sounds  of  the 
accented  syllables  in  the  riming  words  accord.  The 
ballads,  however,  do  not  require  perfect  rime  (conso- 
nantal) ;  that  is,  a  rime  in  which  all  the  letters  following 
the  vowels  accented  are  in  agreement.  If  we  examine  a 
ballad  like  "  German  Gladensvend  "  (No.  33),  we  shall  find, 
in  addition  to  rimes  like  Hand — kan,  smaa  —  slaa,  O 

—  Mo,    rimes    such   as  Stavn  —  kan,    sammel —  Vand, 
Strand — Barn,  hvide — given,  Vinge — paa  Kinde,  Rhin 

—  Tid,  which  can  be  denominated  assonantal  rimes ;  that 
is,  rimes  in  which  the  consonants  following  after  the  same 
vowel  are  different.    In  this  same  ballad,  however,  we  meet 


140         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

with  rimes  in  which  the  vowels  are  different,  such  as  fern 

—  kom,fem  —  Son,  Hand — hjem  ;  that  is,  the  so-called 
consonantal  assonance,  in  which  the  similarity  of  sounds  and 
the  euphony  are  brought  into  agreement  by  the  consonants. 

It  would  seem  then  that  the  poets  of  the  Middle  Ages 
were  far  more  lax  in  their  rimes  than  are  the  poets  of 
modern  times.  Our  day  has  the  great  advantage,  however, 
of  possessing  a  language  that  is  rich  and  various  in  a 
wholly  different  way ;  and,  in  addition,  many  rimes 
which  were  then  not  allowable  or  usable  are  now  regarded 
as  good  and  permissible.  I  shall  call  attention  to  a  fact 
which  every  one  who  knows  anything  of  the  language  of 
the  popular  ballad  will  confirm ;  namely,  that  diphthongs 
were  never  employed,  except  very  reluctantly,  as  riming 
vowels ;  hence  there  would  not  be  found  such  rimes  as 
Vet  —  ei,  Feide  —  Leide,  havde  —  lagde  (in  No.  196, 
recorded  in  1650,  stanza  13  has  Ravn  —  Navri).  If  one 
did  use  a  diphthong  in  one  of  the  riming  words,  he  never 
made  it  rime  completely  with  the  second  riming  word. 
Of  precisely  such  a  nature  are  the  rimes  in  "  German 
Gladensvend  "  —  Stavn —  kan  ;  and  in  the  rimes  Stavn 

—  Havn,  which  appear  in  one  stanza,  we  have  a  mistake 
for  Hav  (ud  of  den  vilde  Hav,  "  out  of  the  wild  sea  "). 
Such  rimes  as  undre  —  dundre,  vandre  —  andre  we  shall 
search  the  ballads  for  in  vain.    Whereas  such  rimes  as 
Bjerg  —  Dvarg,   Konster  —  Blomster,   Borrig  —  Sorrig 
swarm  in  the  poetical  romances,  their  presence  in  the 
ballads  was  not  permitted.   Least  of  all  will  one  come  across 
such  rimes  as  ringende  —  klingende.   This  points  to  a 
self-imposed  restraint,  and  leads  to  the  conclusion  that 
everything  which  could  smack  of  jingle  was  avoided. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  141 

Furthermore  let  us  investigate  whether,  besides  end- 
rime,  the  ballads  employed  alliteration.  By  alliteration, 
consonantal  rime,  alliterative  verse,  is  meant  that  two 
words  following  in  close  succession  have  the  same  conso- 
nant or  consonants  at  the  beginning,  immediately  preced- 
ing the  vowels  (Skam  og  Skjandsel,  Spot  og  Spe,  fra  Top 
til  Taa],  together  with  the  condition  that  these  occur  in 
the  most  important  syllables.1  In  the  introductory  stanza 
to  "  Sune  Folkeson  "  (No.  138)  we  have  "  strongly  alliter- 
ative verse,"  as  Grundtvig  calls  it : 

A  i.  Nu  Jigger  de  Helte  veien 

saa  vidt  over  Sveriges  Land : 
det  voldte  Hr.  Sune  Falkursen, 
voldtog  den  Lillievand. 

Now  lie  the  heroes  fallen 

O'er  Sweden  far  and  wide ; 

That  was  the  fault  of  Sune  Falkursen, 

Beguiled  a  lily  maid. 

The  same  holds  good  also  of  the  corresponding  stanza  in 
the  Swedish  ballad : 

De  hjelther  de  ligge  slagne 
sa  vitt  om  Sveriges  landh, 
alt  sedan  Hr.  Sone  Folvarson 
borttog  det  lillievand. 

The  heroes  they  lie  slaughtered 
O'er  Sweden  far  and  wide, 
All  since  Sir  Sone  Folvarson 
Rode  off  with  a  lily  maid. 

As  for  the  Danish  verse,  I  shall  merely  remark  that  the 

singer,  if  he  had  been  truly  artistic,  would  have  used  a 

1  Recke,  Verslaere,  p.  192. 


142         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

new  alliterative  letter  in  the  last  two  lines ;  and,  as  for 
the  Swedish  verse,  that  only  the  third  line  contains  genu- 
ine alliteration  ;  that  is,  an  alliteration  in  which  all  the  con- 
sonants preceding  the  accented  vowel  agree. 

That  alliteration  is  found  in  our  ballads  is  commonly 
regarded  as  an  accepted  fact.  Even  Rask  made  mention 
of  it  in  the  introduction  to  his  Anglo-Saxon  grammar 
(p.  28).  Many  people,  especially  philologists,  have  later 
remarked  it  or  have  gleefully  pointed  it  out,  even  though 
they  possibly  confessed  that  it  was  not  used  as  a  regular 
embellishment.  Against  this  supposition,  however,  one 
voice  has  been  raised  in  loud  protest,  that  of  Ernst  von 
der  Recke,  and  his  fine,  poetical  ear  ought  indeed  in  such 
a  question  to  count  for  more  than  the  eyesight  of  philol- 
ogists, deceived  as  it  is  with  the  aspect  of  words.  We 
shall  now  demonstrate  that  alliteration  is  by  no  means  any 
more  prevalent  in  our  ballads  than  it  is  in  any  euphonious 
poem,  that  it  was  never  employed  consciously  by  the  ballad- 
ists,  and  that  he  labors  under  a  misapprehension  who  either 
believes  that  he  has  frequently  observed  it  or  believes  that 
he  can  produce  an  older  and  more  correct  version  —  one 
which  once  had  alliteration,  but  which  now  has  broken 
down  under  the  tooth  of  time. 

The  poets  of  that  day  felt  no  less  than  do  the  poets  of 
to-day  the  unconscious  value  of  alliteration  in  giving  the 
verse  cadence  and  ring ;  but  they  never  adopted  it  deliber- 
ately, unless  exceptionally  for  a  special  purpose.  They 
did  not  place  the  alliterative  letter  in  the  weightiest  sylla- 
bles nor  in  the  accented  syllables,  and  it  is  only  when  the 
alliterative  letter  and  the  accent  fall  together  that  there  can 
be  talk  of  alliteration.  One  will  perceive  this  more  clearly 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  143 

by  running  through  the  examples  cited.  Concerning 
text  A  of  "  Young  Sir  Thor  and  Lady  Thore  "  (No.  72), 
for  instance,  Bugge  says  that  it  "  sounds  ancient  and  so- 
norous and  vigorous;  alliteration  occurs  very  frequently." 
Let  us  append  here  the  following  stanzas  as  a  specimen 
of  this  long  ballad  (III,  843),  in  which  this  ornament 
supposedly  manifests  itself.  The  knight's  daughter  comes 
to  her  father  and  says  : 

A  40.  Zover  I  mig  til  Tavlbord  at  gaa, 
den  /ange  Dag  maa  mig  forgaa. 

41.  Den  Ridder  /aerte  sin  Datter 
den  /ange  Dag  til  Aften. 

42.  "  En  /iden  Stund  dog  ikke  /aenge ; 

Du  vinde  ikke  Guld  af  fremmede  Svende ! 

43.  "  Du  z/ogte  Dig  z/el  for  Thor  bin  rige, 
jeg  frygter  saa  vist,  ban  in\  Dig  svige." 

44.  Bruden  axler  S&ailagens£md ; 
bun  gaar  i  Loft  for  unge  Thor  ind. 

45.  Jomfruen  ind  ad  Doren  /ren, 
unge  Thor  staar  hende  op  igjen. 

46.  Den  forste  Tavel  paa  Tavelbordet  randt, 
bin  unge  Thor  Legen  vandt. 

40.  Promise  to  sit  at  the  chessboard  with  me, 
To  pass  the  tardy  day  away. 

41.  The  knight  he  taught  his  young  daughter 
The  tardy  day's  long  measure. 

42.  "  One  little  hour,  but  stay  no  longer, 
And  win  no  gold  from  foreign  suitor ! 

43.  "  But  guard  thee  'gainst  Sir  Thor  the  wealthy, 
I  fear  the  game  will  go  for  thee  badly." 


144         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

44.  The  bride  flung  on  her  robes  so  red, 
And  aloft  to  meet  young  Thor  she  sped. 

45.  The  maid  stepped  in  the  open  door, 
Then  stood  up  to  meet  her  young  Sir  Thor. 

46.  The  first  move  on  the  chessboard  done, 
The  young  Sir  Thor  the  match  had  won. 

In  these  stanzas  I  have  pointed  out  all  the  places  where 
alliteration  shows  the  slightest  trace  of  having  been  used ; 
but  it  is  manifest  to  all  how  weak  and  tame,  how  flat  and 
meager  all  that  alliteration  sounds,  simply  because  the  allit- 
erative syllables  are,  for  one  thing,  only  half  such,  and, 
for  another,  are  found  in  weakly  accented  syllables. 

Highly  significant  are  the  remarks  which  Bugge  makes 
concerning  "  The  Soul  at  Heaven's  Door  "  (No.  106),  as 
well  as  his  general  conception  of  this  ballad.  The  ballad 
runs  as  follows : 

1 .  Der  kom  en  Sjael  for  Himmeriges  Dor : 
Herre  Jesu  vare  her  inde  has  os  ! 

hun  bad  sig  ind  udi  Jesu  Navn. 
Herre  Jesu  Christ,  for  han  beer  Himmeriges  Krone. 

2.  Der  udkom  en  Engel,  for  Sjaelen  at  staa : 
"  Slet  ingen  Naade  saa  kan  Du  faa. 

3.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  Afandagen? 

Du  vilde  ikke  give  den  Hungrige  Mad. 

4.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  T^irsdagen  ? 

Du  vilde  ikke  laedske  den  /orstige  Sjael. 

5.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  Onsdagen  ? 

Du  vilde  ikke  laane  den  Ndgne  Dine  Klaeder. 

6.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  Torsdagen  ? 

Du  vilde  ikke  laane  den  //usvilde  //us. 

7.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  /^redagen  ? 
Du  vilde  ikke  hore  den  /-attiges  Bon. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  145 

8.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  Z,6verdagen? 
Du  vilde  ikke  op/ukke  de  Fangnes  Dor. 

9.  "  Hvad  gjorde  Du  om  Sondagen  ? 

Du  vilde  ikke  gaa  til  Kirken  med  Bon. 

10.  "  Praediken  var  ikke  halv  endt, 
Herre  Jesu  vcere  her  inde  hos  os  / 

forend  Du  gik  hjem  og  syndede  igjen." 
Herre  Jesu  Christ,  for  han  beer  Himmeriges  Krone. 

1.  There  came  a  soul  up  to  Heaven's  door; 
Lord  Jesus  be  here  about  us  ! 

She  prayed  to  get  in  in  Jesus'  name. 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  He  bore  Heaven's  crown. 

2.  Out  came  an  angel  the  soul  to  halt : 
11  You  cannot  win  such  favor  at  all. 

3.  "  What  have  you  on  Monday  done? 
You  would  not  give  the  hungry  meat. 

4.  "  What  have  you  on  Tuesday  done  ? 
You  would  not  slake  the  thirsty  soul. 

5.  "  What  have  you  on  Wednesday  done? 
You  would  not  loan  the  naked  your  clothes. 

6.  "  What  have  you  on  Thursday  done  ? 
You  would  not  loan  the  homeless  a  house. 

7.  "What  have  you  on  Friday  done? 

You  would  not  hear  the  poor  folks'  prayer. 

8.  "  What  have  you  on  Saturday  done  ? 
You  would  not  set  open  the  prison  door. 

9.  "  What  have  you  on  Sunday  done  ? 

You  would  not  go  to  church  with  prayers. 

10.  "  The  sermon  was  scarcely  half  at  an  end, 
Lord  Jesus  be  here  about  us  / 

Before  you  went  home  and  sinned  again." 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  bore  Heaven's  crown. 


146         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  admitting  this  ballad  among  the  old  popular  ballads 
of  Denmark,  for  such  is  the  title  of  his  work,  Grundtvig 
clearly  implied  that  it  belonged  to  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
seems  to  me,  however,  that  the  question  may  properly  be 
raised,  What  right  has  this  song  to  a  place  among  our 
popular  ballads,  and,  everything  considered,  why  should 
one  assume  that  it  is  older  than  1732,  the  date  of  its  ap- 
pearance in  a  broadside  ?  Its  only  resemblance  to  popular 
ballads  lies  in  its  double  refrain.  But  the  refrain  had  its 
place  in  the  folk  poetry  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  as  well  as  earlier.  By  this  time  the  old  popular 
ballads  with  refrains  had  become  widely  spread  in  popular 
tradition,  just  as  the  refrain  is  yet  to  be  found  to-day; 
even  religious  songs  were  provided  with  refrains.  It  is 
extremely  doubtful  whether  this  ballad  can  be  said  to  pos- 
sess a  meter.  The  rimes  are  not  worth  mentioning;  in 
place  of  genuine  rime  the  "author"  of  the  ballad  has 
used  a  sort  of  rime,  similar  to  which  nothing  has  ever 
been  seen  before  or  after ;  as,  for  example,  Fredagen — 
Fattiges  Bon,  Loverdagen — oplukke  Dor,  Sb'ndagen — Bon, 
etc.  In  the  whole  ballad  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of 
Catholicism  ;  hence  on  this  ground  one  should  not  regard 
it  as  being  hundreds  of  years  old.  Not  the  slightest  trace 
of  old  linguistic  forms  exists  to  constrain  us  to  date  it  back 
farther  than  1732.  Finally,  as  Grundtvig  points  out,  the 
theme  of  a  soul  at  Heaven's  door  has  been  handled  a 
number  of  times  in  German  song.  Here,  in  other  words, 
we  have  every  reason  for  insisting  on  the  rules  observed 
of  all  other  historical  sources ;  namely,  that  the  age  of  a 
document  is  first  and  foremost  determined  according  to  the 
date  when  it  first  appeared.  Accordingly  the  ballad  may 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  147 

be  characterized  as  a  childish,  unpoetical  production  by 
some  penny  ballad  monger  and  poet  of  Aabenraa 1  in  Hoi- 
berg's  day. 

Nevertheless  Bugge  says  in  connection  with  this  abor- 
tion of  a  ballad  that  "  it  seems  to  be  something  more  than 
an  accident  that  alliteration  is  found  in  several  stanzas 
where  on  the  other  hand  rime  is  wanting,"  and  that  from 
this  alliteration  we  must  conclude  "  that  alliteration  was 
present  also  in  stanzas  5,  6,  and  9.  Perhaps  in  stanza  6  we 
should  read  Tag  for  If  us,  and  in  stanza  9  Sang  for  Bon. 
From  stanza  4,  moreover,  we  should  conclude  that  the  ballad 
was  composed  after  the  sound  f>  had  disappeared  from 
Danish ;  for  the  words  Tirsdag  and  torstig,  which  here 
rime  together,  were  in  old  Danish  Tyrsdagr  and  pyrster. 
The  alliterating  verse  was  therefore  composed  in  Danish 
in  that  period  when  the  sound  f»  was  no  longer  heard  " 
(III,  903).  This  theory  has  found  another  distinguished 
supporter  in  Gustav  Storm,  who  cites  this  ballad  as  one 
of  his  proofs  that  alliteration  and  Fornyrdalag  (a  special 
kind  of  Icelandic  meter)  maintained  themselves  a  long 
time  in  Denmark ;  the  ballad  "is  no  older  than  the 
fourteenth  century,  perhaps  the  fifteenth,"  "  but  it  is 
apparently  in  a  transitional  stage,  since  it  has  given  up 
Fornyrdalag''  2 

I  can  make  out  nothing  else  than  that  some  wretched 
street  versifier,  who  lived  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  has  led  these  learned  gentlemen  entirely  astray. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  we  have  been  accustomed 

1  A  street  in  Copenhagen  where,  in  Holberg's  day,  a  ballad  monger 
lived. 

2  Storm,  Sagnkredsene  om  Karl  den  Store,  p.  171. 


148         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

to  look  at  the  popular  ballads  en  masse,  according  to  a 
tradition  that  goes  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  without  deem- 
ing it  possible  for  us  to  discriminate  between  the  recent 
and  the  remote,  the  new  and  the  old,  we  should  never  have 
imagined  a  source  to  be  five  hundred  years  old  which  bears 
the  date  1732. 

The  cause  of  the  misunderstanding  meanwhile  lies  in 
the  wholly  inaccurate  conception  of  the  time  when  allitera- 
tion made  its  appearance  in  the  ballads.  For  the  facts 
represent  the  precise  antithesis  of  what  is  held  by  many 
scholars.  Alliteration  is  something  recent  and  originated 
in  the  poetry  of  art.  In  the  following  arguments  I  shall 
try  to  make  good  my  position. 

Let  us  turn  again  to  the  stanza  cited  above  from  "  Sune 
Folkeson"  (No.  138): 

C  i.  Nu  ligger  de  Helte  veide 
saa  vide  under  Sveriges  6  : 
det  voider  Hr.  Sune  Folkeson, 
voldtog  den  vaene  Mo. 

Now  lie  the  heroes  fallen, 
On  Sweden's  strand  so  wide ; 
That  is  the  fault  of  Sune  Folkeson, 
Beguiled  so  fair  a  maid. 

This  ballad  is  recorded  in  a  score  of  different  manuscripts 
and  exists  in  half  a  score  of  different  versions.  Hence 
there  is  no  lack  of  good  material  to  use  in  investigating  the 
question,  Which  is  the  best  and  earliest  text  ?  The  earliest 
is  found  in  Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript  of  1550  and 
in  Rentzel's  manuscript  of  Frederick  II's  time,  as  well  as 
in  several  later  manuscripts.  It  begins  as  follows  : 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  149 

B  I.  Kong  Magnus  var  Konge  i  Sverrig, 
han  havde  de  Dottre  to ; 
de  var  dem  baade  liden  og  unge, 
der  dennem  faldt  Moder  fra. 
Nu  ligger  de  Helleder  veien. 

King  Magnus  was  king  of  Sweden, 
He  had  two  daughters  born ; 
When  they  were  yet  both  young  and  tiny, 
Of  their  mother  they  were  left  forlorn. 
Now  lie  the  heroes  fallen. 

Here  we  see  that  the  introductory  verse  with  alliteration 
is  altogether  wanting.  The  version  next  to  this  one  in 
point  of  time  of  recording  is  that  of  C,  which  is  found  in 
Langebek's  Folio  Manuscript,  belonging  close  to  1600  and 
in  other  manuscripts.  Its  first  verse  reads  as  above.  This 
same  verse  appears  likewise  in  texts  A,  D,  E,  F,  K,  and  L, 
that  is,  in  manuscripts  the  earliest  of  which  hark  back  to 
the  period  between  the  beginning  and  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  wanting  in 
G,  which  is  recorded  in  Countess  Christiane's  manuscript 
(1660).  H,  which  belongs  to  about  the  same  period,  does 
not  possess  alliterative  verse,  although  its  last  stanza  runs  : 

H  33.  Nu  ligger  de  Hellede  veied 
og  ind  i  Sverriges  Rige : 
bort  da  red  Hr.  Sonnildt 
alt  med  den  Jomfru  saa  rige. 

Now  lie  the  heroes  fallen 
Within  the  realm  of  Sweden  ; 
Away  then  rode  Sir  Sonnildt 
All  with  the  rich  young  maiden. 

Text  I,  of  the  seventeenth  century,  lacks  this  stanza  alto- 
gether.   The  result  shows  therefore  that  in  the  oldest 


ISO         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

manuscripts  the  alliterative  stanza  in  question  is  not  pres- 
ent, and  that,  in  several  other  forms  of  the  ballad  also,  it 
is  wanting. 

If  we  examine  the  Swedish  versions,  we  shall  see  that 
B  (Geijer,  No.  92),  according  to  a  broadside  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  presents  an  entirely  different  begin- 
ning and  exhibits  no  alliteration  in  the  first  stanza.  The 
same  can  be  said  of  C.  Version  A  (Arwidsson,  No.  163), 
according  to  a  manuscript  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
opens  up,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  following  stanza : 

De  hielther  de  ligge  slagne 
sa  vitt  om  Sveriges  landh, 
alt  sedan  Hr.  Sone  Folvarson 
borttog  det  lillievand. 
Der  ligge  de  hielther  slagne.  (Seep.  141.) 

The  alliterative  letter,  if  such  can  be  found,  is  here  a 
different  one ;  but,  in  any  case,  only  the  third  line  has 
genuine,  regular  alliteration.  It  is  therefore  extremely 
doubtful  whether,  on  the  whole,  this  stanza  will  serve  as 
proof  that  alliteration  existed  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Another  example  will  help  to  show  when  alliteration 
arose.  We  find  in  Vedel's  tragical  ballad  of  "  Sir  Ebbe's 
Daughters"  (No.  194): 

33.  Hver  den  Svend,  som  rider  ad  gilie, 
og  .Z?eilen  til  .Solen  vil  vende, 
ban  -z/over  dert/ed  baade  Liv  og  Gods, 
slig  Forsaet  tager  aldrig  god  Ende. 

Whoever  the  youth  rides  out  to  a  brothel, 
From  wooing  to  whoring  is  descending, 
He  places  in  peril  both  life  and  wealth, 
Such  purpose  comes  never  to  good  ending. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  151 

There  is  no  question  here  that  the  stress  falls  upon  the 
alliterative  syllables  with  a  clear  consciousness  of  its  sig- 
nificance. Peder  Syv  has  a  proverb  :  "  Many  turn  wooing 
to  whoring "  (in  proverbs  alliteration  is  common).  We 
know,  however,  the  source  of  Vedel's  stanza,  and  there 
the  above  stanza  is  not  found ;  nor  is  it  met  with  in  any 
other  manuscript  of  this  text,  nor  in  texts  B  and  C.  There- 
fore no  doubt  exists  that  Vedel  himself  is  the  author  of 
the  verse. 

Alliteration  strikes  the  ear  just  as  forcibly  in  the  follow- 
ing stanza  from  "  Mettelil  and  Queen  Sofie  "  (No.  130) : 

C  13.  Ingen  Fuglfloyer  saa^ast  under  Sky, 

som  Hr.  Nielus  rider  sin  (Danger  ^jennem  By. 

No  fowl  flies  so  fast  above  the  ground, 

As  Sir  Nielus  rides  his  pacer  past  the  town. 

But  here,  too,  Vedel's  source  is  well  known  to  us,  and  his 
stanza  is,  as  Grundtvig  points  out,  borrowed  from  version 
B,  whose  ninth  stanza  runs  very  differently  : 

Ingen  (Fugl)  flyer  saa  snart  under  Sky, 
som  Hr.  Nicholaus  rider  igjennem  den  By, 

None  (fowl)  flies  so  swiftly  above  the  ground, 
As  Sir  Nicholaus  rides  past  the  town ; 

here  we  have  no  alliteration,  but  rather  a  decided  euphony, 
which  is  gained  without  the  aid  of  the  much  prized  allitera- 
tion. Furthermore  let  us  cite  a  well-known  stanza  from 
"  Niels  Ebbeson  "  (No.  156),  which  in  Vedel  runs : 

F  25.  Herr  Anders  Frost,  den  duelig  Mand, 
forsvarer  saa  vel  sin  /Ere ; 
•znlde  han  af  Eder  Orlov  have, 
hvi  t/ilde  I  ham  det  -z/aegre  ? 


152         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Sir  Anders  Frost,  the  gallant  man, 
Knows  well  how  to  defend  his  honor ; 
If  he  of  you  a  furlough  seeks, 
Then  why  refuse  him  the  furlough  ? 

The  other  and  older  texts  have  : 

A  20.  vilde  han  Orlov  af  Eder  tage, 
hvi  maatte  han  det  ikke  gjore? 

B  1 8.  vil  han  Orlov  have, 

hvi  monne  han  det  ei  faa? 

C  1 7.  Om  en  Svend  vil  Orlov  have, 
hvi  maa  han  det  ei  gjore? 

A  20.  Would  he  a  furlough  of  you  request, 
Why  should  he  then  not  have  it  ? 

B  1 8.  If  he  a  furlough  will  have, 

Why  may  he  then  not  get  it  ? 

€17.  If  a  youth  asks  for  a  furlough, 

Why  should  he  then  not  have  it  ? 

(This  verse  is  wanting  in  D  and  E.)  Here  again  Vedel 
has  refined  the  last  line  in  order  to  give  it  alliteration.  It 
cannot  be  gainsaid  that  in  fullness  and  variety  of  tone  the 
old  verses  are  just  as  effective. 

Thus  we  see  that  it  is  Vedel  who  concocted  the  allitera- 
tion, but  we  have  no  reason  for  following  the  same  methods, 
as  is  often  done  by  modern  editors.  In  "  Svend  Vonved  " 
(No.  1 8),  which  tells  of  the  wonderful  hero  who  carries 
so  many  animals,  occur  the  lines  : 

A  1 6.  Og  han  havde  Lossen  paa  sin  Bag 
og  Bjornen  paa  sin  hoire  Hand. 

B  22.  Bassen  havde  han  paa  sin  Bag 

og  Bjorn  i  Haende. 
C  28.  Han  havde  Bjornen  paa  sin  Bag 

og  Bassi  paa  sin  Laende. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  153 

A  1 6.  And  he  had  the  lynx  upon  his  back, 
And  the  bear  in  his  right  hand. 

B  22.  The  boar  he  had  upon  his  back, 
A  bear  in  his  hand. 

C  28.  He  had  the  bear  upon  his  back, 
And  the  boar  upon  his  loins. 

Concerning  the  above  Bugge  remarks :  "  This  verse  has 
no  rime  in  any  of  its  three  forms,  and  I  see  no  evidence 
that  it  ever  had.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  alliteration,  for 
Bassen  in  B  and  C  is  more  correct  than  Laassen  in  A. 
Here  therefore,  in  the  middle  of  a  ballad  with  end-rime,  is 
left  standing  a  verse  which,  in  olden  time,  contented  itself 
with  the  customary  alliteration  "  (III,  787).  As  has  been 
pointed  out  already,  there  does  not  exist  in  our  ballads  the 
slightest  evidence  of  alliteration  having  been  handed  down 
from  an  older  period,  let  alone  its  having  taken  the  place  of 
end-rime.  Furthermore  it  seems  to  me  an  easy  matter  to 
find  the  end-rime  which  the  verse  probably  had ;  namely, 

Han  havde  Bjornen  paa  hoire  Haende 
og  Lossen  paa  sin  Laende. 

In  his  version  of  the  ballad  in  his  "  Selected  Popular  Ballads," 
Grundtvig  happens  upon  the  same  idea  ;  but  since  he  starts 
from  the  point  of  view  that  the  ballads  aspired  to  allitera- 
tion, he  writes : 

22.  Bassen  bar  han  paa  Laende 
og  Bjorn  i  hoire  Haende. 

For  several  reasons  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  my 
attempt  at  reconstructing  the  verse  comes  nearer  to  the 
genuine  tone  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


154         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

On  the  whole,  it  is  significant  to  observe  how  allitera- 
tion, in  the  course  of  time,  becomes  attached  to  verses ; 
where  one  verse,  for  instance,  originally  possessed  simple 
and  natural  alliteration,  gradually  several  became  infected 
with  it.  This  will  be  evident  from  a  comparison  of  the 
following  stanzas  of  "  King  Hans'  Wedding  "  (No.  166) : 

A  17.  Dagen  dages  osten, 

og  Bolgen  blaeser  blaa. 

B  1 6.  Dagen  den  dages  osten, 

og  Bolgen  den  blaeser  blaa. 

C  19.  Boren  blaeser  for  Osten, 

og  Bolgeren  [Bolgerne]  driver  paa  Sand. 

A  1 7.  Day  is  dawning  eastward, 

And  billows  are  blowing  blue. 

B  1 6.  Day  it  is  dawning  eastward, 

And  billows  they  are  blowing  blue. 

C  19.  The  breeze  is  blowing  easterly, 

And  the  billows  dash  on  the  sand. 

The  last  version  is  undoubtedly  the  genuine  one  ;  not  only 
is  it  found  in  the  oldest  manuscript  (1550),  —  A  is  nearly 
contemporaneous,  —  but  it  also  agrees  far  better  with  the 
context,  which  relates  that  the  present  time  offers  a  favor- 
able opportunity  to  return  home  to  Denmark.  The  desire 
for  alliteration,  however,  in  A  and  B  has  given  rise  to  a 
meaningless  line  ("  Bolgen  blaeser  blaa  ").  In  "  Svend  Fel- 
ding  "  (No.  32)  is  set  forth  exactly  the  same  situation ; 
namely,  that  they  who  are  to  fetch  home  the  foreign  prin- 
cess will  not  wait  longer,  but  will  fare  homeward  : 

A  1 6.  Boren  blseser  saa  mildelig, 
og  Bolger  leger  paa  Sand. 

The  breeze  is  blowing  so  gently, 
The  billows  play  on  the  sand. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  155 

There  is  a  ballad  whose  capital  verses  often  use,  among 
other  devices,  alliteration ;  namely,  "  The  Trold  and  the 
House-wife  "  (No.  52).  In  one  of  the  oldest  texts  we  find: 

B  4.  Hunden  gjoer  i  Gaarden, 
og  Hyrden  tuder  i  Horn ; 
Hanen  galer  i  Baenke, 
som  hannem  gives  Korn. 

The  hound  cries  in  the  courtyard, 
The  herd  toots  on  his  horn ; 
The  cock  on  his  perch  is  crowing, 
When  they  feed  him  corn. 

Have  not  these  lines  a  splendid  ring?  But  does  it  lie 
entirely  in  the  fact  that  the  ballad  aimed  to  use  allitera- 
tion ?  No,  certainly  not  in  this  alone ;  rather  it  lies  in  the 
facts  that  alliteration  was  not  allowed  to  dominate,  that,  on 
the  whole,  all  the  devices  which  go  toward  making  a  lan- 
guage sonorous  —  variation  in  sound  and  shifting  cadences 
—  have  operated  to  this  end.  In  these  four  lines  not  one 
of  the  total  sum  of  vowels  in  the  language  has  been  for- 
gotten. For  the  sake  of  comparison  one  should  read  how 
this  stanza  runs  in  a  later  form,  which,  through  the  fond- 
ness of  the  seventeenth  century  for  having  verses  perme- 
ated with  alliteration,  allows  this  feature  a  prominent  place : 

C  7.  Saa  hoit  da^jode  den^ode  Hund, 
som  Jaegeren  blaeser  i  Horn : 
og  saa  da  ^aled  den  ^ode  Hane, 
som  Bonden  havde  .givet  sin  Korn. 

As  loud  then  growled  the  good  hound, 
As  the  hunter  blows  on  his  horn ; 
And  so  then  crowed  the  cock  so  good 
When  the  farmer  had  fed  him  his  corn. 


156         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Or  let  us  cite  another  verse  from  the  ballad,  such  as,  for 
example : 

B  2.  Han  hugger  neder  Eg,  ban  faelder  neder  Bog, 
han  bygger  op  Husen  saa  faste. 

C  3.  Han  hugger  Eg,  han  hugger  der  Birk, 
og  Bdgen  monne  han  der  faelde. 

B  2.  He  hews  down  the  oak,  he  fells  down  the  beech, 
He  builds  up  a  house  so  strongly. 

C  3.  He  hews  the  oak,  he  hews  the  birch, 
The  beech  he  did  there  harry. 

B  is  pleasing  simply  because  of  its  rhythmical  vibration, 
its  parallelism,  and,  at  the  same  time,  its  variation ; 
C,  however,  has  laid  a  preponderating  stress  upon  allitera- 
tion, calling  therefore  into  requisition  the  birch  tree, 
which  otherwise  has  no  place  in  the  botany  of  the  ballads. 

Altogether  I  can  heartily  agree  with  the  assertion  of 
Ernst  von  der  Recke  that  the  ballads  exhibit  no  trace  of 
alliteration :  "  The  opinion  that  such  a  trace  was  actually 
to  be  found  has  been  repeated  from  one  time  to  another, 
but  it  is  wholly  groundless."1  Thus  I  have  attempted  to 
show  that  the  supposed  alliteration  is  in  reality  no  such 
thing,  and  that  it  is  not  found  in  the  oldest  texts ;  I  have 
also  pointed  out  the  desire  of  the  later,  artistic  age  to 
make  use  of  this  same  kind  of  rime  in  the  construction 
of  verses. 

To  the  above  I  shall  add  meanwhile  one  more  observa- 
tion. Of  the  marvelous  stuff  which  makes  up  a  verse-line 
—  its  coloring,  ring,  and  atmosphere,  that  which  changes 
prose  into  poetry  —  alliteration  is  and  always  will  be  a  part. 
1  Recke,  Verskunst,  I,  112. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  157 

Even  in  our  daily  speech  we  cannot  avoid  using  it ;  every 
one  who  says  from  top  to  toe,  head  over  heels,  fair  and 
free,  with  hide  and  hair,  every  one  who  speaks  of  foul  and 
fair,  employs  such  rime;  it  comes  to  our  hands  as  a 
natural  instrument  and  adornment.  Only  when  we  are 
first  made  aware  of  this  do  we  discover  to  what  great  ex- 
tent we  are  inclined  to  its  use.  When  Jourdain  in  Moliere's 
"  Le  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme  "  becomes  informed  of  the 
difference  between  poetry  and  prose,  he  breaks  out  in  a 
transport  of  joy :  "  So  I  have  truly  been  talking  prose  for 
over  forty  years  without  having  had  the  least  suspicion  of 
it."  So  it  is  with  us  when  our  attention  is  called  to  the 
fact  that  we  use  alliteration,  and  when  we  see  how  the 
popular  ballads  employ  it  as  they  do  many  other  poetic 
devices. 

Every  language  strives  after  euphony ;  likewise  did  our 
language  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  modern  poets  also 
frequently  use  alliteration ;  but  here  again  we  should 
determine  clearly  whether  alliteration  predominates  in  the 
poet's  song,  whether  it  coincides  with  the  verse's  weight- 
iest word  and  with  the  accent,  whether  it  is  the  poet's 
main  poetic  device  in  addition  to  end-rime,  or  whether 
it  is  supported  and  shaped  according  to  the  presence  of 
the  devices  which  generate  euphony.  Among  these  last 
I  must  lay  especial  stress  upon  assonance,  that  is,  agree- 
ment between  the  principal  vowels  of  two  words,  as  being 
of  far  more  value  than  alliteration ;  for  it  gives  rise  to  a 
chord,  whereas  alliteration  often  sounds  only  the  same 
note  an  octave  lower.  This  is  frequently  overlooked  by 
our  latest  poets  and  prose  writers ;  for,  along  with  a 
very  disgusting  affectation,  which  has  broken  out  over  the 


158         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

country,  alliteration  has  made  its  appearance  in  prose. 
CEhlenschlager  and  our  older  poets  certainly  did  not 
commit  such  errors,  and  even  the  following  well-known 
verses  of  the  priest  Laurids  Kok  (ob.  1691)  can  prove 
suggestive : 

Ztenmark,  deiligst  Fang  og  Faenge, 

lukt  med  ^olgen  £laa, 

hvor  de  -z/akre  t/oxne  Drenge 

kan  i  Leding  gaa 

mod  de  Tydsker,  Slaver,  Vender, 

hvor  man  dem  paa  Tog  hensender ; 

en  Ting  mangier  for  den  Have, 

Zedet  er  af  Zave. 

Denmark,  fairest  fields  and  forests, 

Hedged  with  billows  blue, 

Where  the  sturdy,  stalwart  warriors 

On  expeditions  go 

Against  the  Wends,  Slavs,  and  Germans, 

When  one  to  war  them  summons ; 

In  the  garden  is  one  thing  lacking, 

The  gate  itself  is  sagging. 

Is  not  this  stanza  closely  packed  with  alliteration,  and 
yet  many  other  factors  operate  with  it  in  the  most  beauti- 
ful union,  such  as  a  sonorous  assonance  built  upon  all  the 
vowels  of  the  language,  a  variation  in  sound  that  causes 
one  to  pass  by  the  alliteration  and  to  delight  only  in  the 
euphony.  The  statements  here  set  forth  will  be  borne  out 
by  a  consideration  of  the  refrain. 

In  the  refrains  the  absence  of  rime  as  an  ornament 
leads  indeed  to  a  more  frequent  use  of  alliteration.  On 
the  whole,  the  refrains  are  subject,  as  I  shall  have  many 
occasions  to  point  out,  to  other  rules  than  to  those  of  the 
stanza.  I  shall  cite  here  : 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  159 

No.  146.  Og  foer  de  vide  om  Verden. 

No.  183.  Se,  Folen  for  Liget  over  Hede. 

No.    63.  Saa  render  han  rank  alt  under  skjonne  Jomfruer. 

No.  146.  And  wide  through  the  world  they  roamed. 

No.  183.  See,  the  colt  bears  the  corpse  over  the  moor. 

No.    63.  The  horse  runs  so  brisk  beneath  the  beautiful  maidens. 

In  his  "  Selected  Popular  Ballads,"  Grundtvig  offers  as  a 
refrain  to  No.  i  : 

Tor  han  taemmer  Fole  sin  i  Tomme, 

Thor  he  breaks  his  colt  to  the  bridle, 

but  whether  this  refrain  was  in  use  in  Denmark  is  open 
to  question.  Manuscripts  from  the  seventeenth  century, 
on  the  other  hand,  show  us  that  in  the  Norse  it  ran : 
"  Torekal  tommaa  foelen  sin  med  toumaa,"  and  in  the 
Swedish  :  "  Thorer  tamjer  fahlen  sin  i  tomme."  In  Den- 
mark the  refrain  ran,  both  early  and  late :  "  Saa  vinder 
man  Suerkin"  (So  wins  one  Suerkin,  that  is,  the  proud, 
haughty  woman).  Far  more  frequently  than  alliteration, 
however,  we  find  in  the  refrain  assonance,  or  agreement 
between  the  accented  vowels  of  two  words  : 

No.      8.  Men  Kongen  raader  for  Borgen. 
No.    35.  Maatte  jeg  en  med  de  t^neste  f angel 
No.    59.  Den  R0.ren  vilde  han  love. 
No.    79.  Saa  haver  hun  \ag\.  hans  Hjerte  udi  T-vang. 
No.    80.  Saa  vel  da  iorganges  vor  Angest. 
No.    84.  De  danske  Fruer  udi  Dans&n. 
No.    84.  Det  voider  min  egen  Rose ;  min  Hjerte  haver  ei  Ro. 
No.  127.  Saa  let  fa  ganger  der  Dansen. 
No.  206.  Der  min  jFole  render  igjemmel  Skovz. 
No.  231.  Alt  om  en  -Sbmrnerens  Morgen. 
No.  260.  Denne  Sorg  haver  I  mig  wldet,  Herre. 
Abr.  No.  146.  Thi  sb'rger  hun  for  hannem  saa  tonlig. 


160         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

No.      8.  The  king  rules  over  the  fortresses. 
No.    35.  Might  I  one  of  the  loveliest  capture  ! 
No.    59.  On  the  rose  he  praise  would  bestow. 
No.    79.  So  has  she  laid  his  heart  in  chains. 
No.    80.  So  lightly  our  terror  has  ended. 
No.    84.  The  Danish  women  in  the  dance. 
No.    84.  For  this  I  blame  my  rose ;  my  heart  has  no  repose. 
No.  1 27.  So  light  then  goes  the  dance. 
No.  206.  There  my  horse  runs  through  the  forest. 
No.  231.  All  on  a  summer  morning. 
.No.  260.  This  sorrow  have  you  brought  to  me,  my  lord. 
Abr.  No.  146.  She  mourns  for  him  so  sad  and  lonely. 

Several  of  these  rimes  should  perhaps  be  called  asso- 
nances ;  the  name  is  immaterial.  They  certainly  are  far 
more  significant  than  alliteration.  Often  it  is  merely  a 
certain  parallelism  in  structure,  a  certain  lilt  in  the  rhythm 
that  produces  this  strange,  wonderfully  pleasing,  melodious 
impression ;  such  as,  for  instance,  may  be  found  in  the 
following : 

No.  45.  Men  Zz'nden  hun  /0ves. 

No.  66.  Imo d  saa  \fdd  en  Sommer. 

No.  84.  Det  voider  mig  den  ^ne,  som  jeg  haver  Agt  paa. 

No.  45.  While  the  linden  grows  leafy. 

No.  66.  Toward  so  mild  a  summer. 

No.  84.  I  blame  for  this  the  one  for  whom  I  have  esteem. 

How  much  greater  stress  is  laid  upon  the  euphony  of 
vowels  than  upon  the  similarity  of  initial  consonants  will 
be  brought  home  to  us  by  reading  a  refrain  such  as  be- 
longs to  "  King  Didrik  and  his  Warriors  "  (No.  7) : 

Der  stander  en  B0rg  hedder  Bi?rne,  han  bar  derpaa  Konning 
Diderik. 

There  stands  a  tower  called  Berne,  there  dwells  therein  King 
Diderik. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  161 

In  several  forms  of  the  ballad  (D,  E,  G)  the  refrain 
runs  so : 

Det  donner  under  de  raske  Hovmsend,  de*r  de  udride, 

It  thunders  beneath  the  impetuous  warriors,  there  they  ride  out ; 

and  from  this  Vedel  has  again  concocted : 

Det  donner  under  Ros,  de  danske  Hovmaend  ddr  de  udride, 
It  thunders  under  the  horse,  the  Danish  warriors  there  ride  out. 

Against  this  verse  one  can  urge,  among  other  objections, 
that  the  word  Ros  (horse)  is  a  German  word,  one  that  is 
never  used  in  our  ballads.  It  is  likewise  presumable  that 
in  "  Sir  Bugge's  Death  "  (No.  158)  there  should  be  a  sort 
of  alliteration  in  the  refrain  : 

De  fare  saa  fri  igjennem  Jylland. 
They  fare  so  free  through  Jutland. 

This  is  found  in  the  first  stanza  of  A,  but  all  the  remain- 
ing stanzas  of  this  text,  and,  in  addition,  B,  C,  and  D  have  : 

De  rider  saa  frit  gjennen  Jylland. 
They  ride  so  freely  through  Jutland. 

In  "  Bedeblak  "  (No.  63),  from  a  manuscript  of  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  meet  with  a  pretty 
alliteration : 

Saa  render  han  rank  alt  under  skjonne  Jomfruer. 

The  horse  runs  so  brisk  beneath  the  beautiful  maidens. 

Yet  here  again  it  is  rather  euphony  of  the  vowels  that 
produces  a  pleasing  sound. 

I  shall  now  mention  as  characteristic  of  the  ballads  a 
final  instance  of  what  they  strive  for  in  this  direction,  and 


1 62         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

of  what  they  do  not  aim  at.  In  version  A  of  "  Half  red 
and  Magnus  "  (No.  49),  the  refrain,  which  is  found  in  many 
manuscripts,  runs  so : 

Saa  rask  da  -var  de  ^Edeling  udi  deres  Brynje, 
So  rash  then  were  the  nobles  in  their  breastplates, 

and  in  B  (likewise  an  old  manuscript) : 

Saa  karsk  da  rider  de  ^deling  i  deres  Brynje, 
So  hale  then  ride  the  nobles  in  their  breastplates. 

It  would  be  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  then  for 
the  poet  to  strive  after  alliteration  in  molding  a  refrain  : 

Saa  rask  da  rider  de  yEdeling  udi  deres  Brynje. 
So  rash  then  ride  the  nobles  in  their  breastplates. 

But  none  of  the  versions  were  willing  to  purchase  such  a 
rime  at  the  expense  of  such  harmony  as  this :  "  saa  rask 
da  var,"  "  saa  karsk  da  rider." 

Therefore  it  can  be  asserted  positively  that  the  poets 
of  our  popular  ballads  did  not  care  for  alliteration ; 
they  made  no  greater  effort  to  secure  it  than  they  did  to 
secure  rime  between  the  first  and  third  lines.  Herein  it 
is  evident  how  completely  our  ballads  are  differentiated 
from  the  poetry  of  antiquity,  and  furthermore  how  far 
removed  they  stand  from  the  ballads  of  the  Faroes  and 
Iceland.  As  a  typical  example  of  a  verse  which  is  marked 
by  a  superfluity  of  alliteration  can  be  cited  the  first  stanza 
of  the  Faroese  version  of  "  Iron- Wolf  "  (No.  10) : 

t/ftt  um  r/6lli  gyltir  hjdlmar  jyngja, 

jtfga  teir  d  .rinar  hestar,  teir  springa, 

hoyrast  mdtti  /angt  a"  /eid,  hvar  teirra  sporar  ringja, 

z/ftt  um  z/6lli  gyltir  hjdlmar  syngja. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  163 

Far  over  the  fields  golden  helmets  are  singing, 
They  up  and  mount  their  horses  and  away  are  springing, 
And  afar  could  be  heard  the  sound  of  their  spurs  ringing, 
Far  over  the  fields  golden  helmets  are  singing. 

This  stanza  was  not  recorded,  however,  until  1846  (V,  113). 
But  in  the  Faroes  and  in  Iceland  the  popular  ballads  were 
taken  up,  far  more  so  than  in  other  lands,  by  the  priests  and 
the  cultured  people,  who  had  been  immersed  in  the  literature 
of  antiquity,  and  consequently  had  become  very  familiar  with 
it.  Therefore  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  we  should  here 
meet  with  poetic  devices  which  are  never  found  in  Denmark. 

In  conclusion  I  shall  add  some  remarks  on  the  melodies. 
The  Middle  Ages  did  not  possess  the  major  and  minor 
scales  in  force  to-day.  In  their  places  were  used  the  so- 
called  Greek,  or  ecclesiastical,  modes  ;  namely,  the  Ionian 
(nearly  like  C  major),  the  Dorian,  Phrygian,  Mixolydian, 
and  the  ^olian  (nearly  like  our  A  minor).  In  these  modes 
there  were  found  intervals  of  semitones  in  only  two  places ; 
namely,  between  e  and  f,  and  b  and  c ;  hence,  to  use  a 
modern  illustration,  only  the  white  keys  of  the  piano  were 
in  use ;  exceptionally,  however,  a  single  other  note,  espe- 
cially b,  appeared.  Our  modern  scales,  which  arose  about 
1600,  have  a  far  greater  range  of  modulations  and  more 
mobility ;  whereas  the  older  were  extraordinarily  rich  in 
chords,  indeed  far  more  so  than  the  modern  scales. 

If  now  we  examine  Berggreen's  "  Folkesange  og 
Melodier,"  we  shall  see  that  he  has  established  beyond 
question  that  several  of  the  melodies  are  in  the  Greek 
mode  ("  The  Valraven,"  No.  28a ;  in  the  Swedish  folk 
songs,  Nos.  39,  49),  but  that  altogether  the  great  majority 
are  in  the  major  and  minor  scales. 


164         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

That  this  can  originally  have  been  the  case  is  exceed- 
ingly improbable.  In  the  Middle  Ages  there  existed  no 
difference  in  modes  between  the  ecclesiastical  and  the 
secular  music  ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  secular  songs  and  the 
folk  songs  were  in  the  Greek  modes.  If  therefore  our 
melodies  at  that  time  had  used  the  modern  scales,  we 
Danes  must  have  been  a  couple  of  hundred  years  in  ad- 
vance of  the  rest  of  Europe,  for  it  was  only  as  the  sixteenth 
century  was  passing  into  the  seventeenth  that  the  new 
modes  appear,  and  only  in  the  middle  of  the  latter  century 
that  the  old  modes  withdrew.1 

As  for  the  German  popular  melodies,  it  is  also  known 
that  they  were  originally  composed  in  the  ecclesiastical 
modes.2  In  his  "  Om  Kirkesangen  "  (pp.  45  ff.,  134)  the 
organist  Thomas  Laub  has  succeeded,  by  going  through 
all  the  melodies  preserved  in  Denmark,  in  establishing 
clearly  that  several  of  those  printed  in  Berggreen  do  not 
fit  in  with  the  new  modes,  since  they  can  be  classed 
neither  as  major  nor  minor.  On  the  contrary,  they  find 
their  place  in  the  ecclesiastical  modes.  Others  of  the 
melodies  agree  very  well,  it  is  true,  with  our  present 
modes,  but  they  fall  in  just  as  well  with  the  old.  Those 
melodies  taken  down  by  Schoolmaster  Kristensen  also 
point  back  to  the  old  musical  system.  It  certainly  cannot 
be  denied  that  it  is  solely  the  circumstance  of  their  having 
been  recorded  at  a  late  date  and  at  a  time  when  the  old 
system  was  no  longer  well  known  that  has  carried  the 
melodies  over  into  the  new  modes.3  This  very  same  obser- 
vation has  been  made  by  another  musical  authority  with 

1  Bohme,  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,  p.  Ixi.  a  Ibid.,  pp.  lix  ff. 

8  Gronland,  in  Allgem.  musik.  Zeitung,  1816,  column  613. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  165 

respect  to  the  Swedish  folk  melodies.1  It  ought  therefore 
to  be  the  clear  duty  of  musicians  to  restore,  in  any  case,  a 
portion  of  the  Scandinavian  melodies  to  their  former 
shape. 

It  is  an  unmistakable  characteristic  of  the  music  of  olden 
times,  especially  of  folk  music,  that  it  had  no  set  or  regu- 
lar rhythm,  that  it  did  not  require,  as  does  the  music  of 
the  present  day,  the  entire  piece  to  be  written  in  the  same 
kind  of  time.  True  it  is  that  to-day  we  may  vary  the  time 
of  different  portions  of  a  composition  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  we  do 
not  permit,  for  instance,  in  a  single,  continuous  piece  of 
music  several  parts  or  a  short  series  of  notes  to  stand  in 
three-four  time,  the  next  in  two-four  time,  etc.  To  our 
forefathers  this  did  not  serve  in  the  least  as  a  hindrance. 
Many  melodies  were,  to  be  sure,  written  in  a  measure  that 
was  carried  through  unvaried ;  but  very  frequently  the 
rhythm  was  changed,  with  the  result  that  the  melody 
gained  a  peculiar  warmth  and  naturalness.  Even  in  the 
dance,  where  we  to-day  insist  on  a  rhythm  maintained 
uniformly  throughout,  a  variation  was  often  indulged  in, 
as,  by  the  way,  is  still  the  practice  in  the  dances  of  the 
German  peasantry.  In  German  dance  melodies,  some  of 
which  have  been  recorded  as  far  back  as  the  fourteenth 
century,  we  run  across  changes  in  the  time  ;  for  example, 
after  several  measures  in  three-four  time  come  several 
measures  in  four-four,  whereupon  the  three-four  time 
resumes. 

It  cannot  help  but  be  instructive  to  observe  how  the 
peasants  still  dance  to-day  in  Oberpfalz.  In  addition  to 

1  K.  Valentin,  Studien  iiber  die  schwedischen  Volksmelodien, 
pp.  22  ff.,  55,  72. 


1 66         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

the  Schleifer  (a  waltz)  in  three-eight  time,  there  is  the 
Dreher  in  three-four  time  ;  the  latter,  however,  is  most 
commonly  danced  with  Eintreten,  as  it  is  called,  which 
obliges  one  to  change  over  rapidly  from  one  time  to 
another.  In  a  Dreifach,  for  instance,  one  sings  and  dances 
the  first  three  measures  in  three-four  time,  three  measures 
in  two-four,  four  in  three-four,  and  three  in  two-four.  The 
dance  is  performed  as  follows :  where  the  melody  runs  in 
three-eight  time,  the  movement  is  about  the  same  as  in 
our  waltz ;  during  the  two-four  measures,  the  dancers 
execute  certain  movements  which  resemble  those  of  a  bear 
rocking ;  that  is,  they  sway  themselves  without  bending  the 
body  forward,  smartly  from  one  side  to  the  other,  standing 
alternately  on  the  right  foot  and  on  the  left.  What  dis- 
tinguishes a  very  jaunty  dancer  in  Oberpfalz  is  not  any 
real  innate  grace  of  movement,  or  any  great  liveliness, 
but  rather  an  astounding  virtuosity  in  being  able  to  vary 
the  time.1 

Our  own  melodies  are  no  strangers  to  this  variation  in 
time.  Even  among  Berggreen's  popular  ballads  we  find 
a  number  of  melodies  which  exhibit  several  changes  in 
the  tempo;  as,  for  example,  that  of  No.  25b,  "I  know 
well  where  a  castle  stands."  There  is  no  doubt,  however, 
that  this  change  took  place  far  oftener  than  we  now  have 
evidence  of.  Furthermore  we  can  find  in  individual 
melodies,  and  in  their  relations  to  the  texts,  other  traces 
of  this  change  ;  and  also  at  the  present  day  we  can  some- 
times hear  in  the  songs  of  the  peasantry  the  free  rhythm 
together  with  the  fixed  tempo.2  A  question  that  deserves 

1  Bohme,  Tanz,  pp.  192  ff.,  248,  254. 

2  Laub,  Om  Kirkesangen,  pp.  64  ff.,  135. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  167 

to  be  investigated  is  whether  or  not  the  variation  in  tempo 
could  have  been  indicated  in  the  verse  measure.  At  any 
rate,  there  is  one  rhythm  found  in  ballads  that  draws 
especial  attention  to  itself ;  namely,  that  verse  measure  which 
I  have  already  spoken  of  (p.  129)  and  which  one  will 
recognize  especially  as  belonging  to  "  The  Betrothed  in 
the  Grave  "  (No.  90).  I  shall  here  cite  several  stanzas  from 
"  Proud  Elin's  Revenge  "  (No.  209) : 

3.  Og  saa  forte  de  den  unge  Brud 
i  Hr.  Renoldts  Gaard : 

der  var  ikke  det  rode  Guld 
for  Legeren  spart. 

4.  Saa  fulgte  de  den  unge  Brud 
i  Salen  ind : 

for  gik  Ridder  og  Svende, 
de  bar  hendes  Skind. 

5.  Og  saa  satte  de  den  unge  Brud 
paa  Brude-Baenk: 

frem  gaar  Ridder  og  Svende 
de  bar  hender  Skjaenk. 

6.  Op  stod  stolten  Ellind, 

hun  tog  sig  Kanden  i  Haand : 
saa  gaar  hun  at  skjaenke  Vin, 
men  Dagen  vaand  [mens  Dagen  randt]. 

7.  Saa  gaar  hun  at  skjaenke  Vin, 
men  Dagen  vaand ; 

saa  vredlig  tog  hun  Solvkar 
af  Brudens  Haand. 

3.  And  so  they  led  the  youthful  bride 
To  Sir  Renoldt's  yard ; 
There  was  plenty  of  the  red,  red  gold 
To  the  players  spared. 


1 68         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

4.  So  followed  they  the  youthful  bride 
Within  the  door ; 

Before  her  marched  the  knights  and  squires, 
Her  furs  they  bore. 

5.  And  so  they  set  the  youthful  bride 
On  the  bridal  chair ; 

Forth  then  stepped  the  knights  and  squires, 
With  gifts  so  rare. 

6.  Up  then  stood  proud  Ellind, 
She  raised  the  cup  on  high ; 
So  she  poured  around  the  wine 
The  livelong  day. 

7.  So  she  poured  around  the  wine 
The  livelong  day ; 

Angrily  she  snatched  the  cup 
From  the  bride  away. 

Here  is  a  marked  contrast  between  the  rhythmical  swing 
of  the  first  and  third  lines,  and  that  of  the  other  two  lines. 
While  the  latter  move  like  a  marching  step,  the  long  lines 
of  the  former  hasten  on  with  a  certain  flying  momentum. 
If  one  is  not  inclined  to  grant,  however,  that  this  differ- 
ence is  necessarily  a  result  of  a  change  in  tempo,  —  in  no 
case  do  the  melodies  preserved  contradict  my  theory,  — 
yet  one  must  surely  concede  that  it  points,  at  the  entrance 
of  each  line,  to  a  change  in  the  manner  of  dancing. 

Ewald's  romance  of  "  Liden  Gunver  "  has  imitated  in 
part  this  verse  measure,  in  that  two  of  his  lines  fit  in  per- 
fectly with  the  rhythm  of  the  ballad  : 

Liden  Gunver  vandrer  som  heist  i  Kvaeld, 

saa  tankefuld. 
Hendes  Hjerte  var  Vox,  hendes  unge  Sjael 

var  provet  Guld. 


RIME,  RHYTHM,  AND  MELODY  169 

Liden  Gunver  meder  med  Silken-Snor 

ved  Havets  Bred ; 
da  haevedes  Bolgen,  og  Vandet  foer 

saa  brat  afsted. 

Little  Gunver  walks  about  at  even-time 

Lost  deep  in  thought. 
Her  heart  was  wax,  her  fair  young  mind 

Like  gold  well  wrought. 

Little  Gunver  fishes  with  the  silken  thread 

At  the  sea's  brim ; 
The  billows  heaved,  and  the  waters  spread 

Away  so  dim. 

A  comparison  of  the  modern  poem  with  the  ballad, 
however,  will  make  evident  how  great  is  the  gulf  between 
the  rhythm  of  the  two.  The  contrast  between  the  two 
pairs  of  lines  is  not  felt  in  Ewald's  poem  to  the  same 
degree  as  in  the  ballad ;  the  first  line  has  a  far  steadier 
movement  in  place  of  the  hasty  run  of  the  ballad,  a  conse- 
quence of  the  strong  use  of  anapaests,  and  of  a  regular 
structure  of  the  strophe  consistently  carried  out. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE 
BALLADS 

It  lies  outside  the  province  of  this  work  to  consider  all  the 
themes  which  furnish  material  for  the  ballads,  to  trace  out 
all  the  relics  of  old,  mythological  beliefs  in  the  poetry  of 
the  Christian  period,  to  inquire  into  the  kind  and  nature 
of  the  superstitions,  to  see  relations  with  the  poetry  and 
the  world  of  tradition  in  other  lands,1  to  paint  pictures  of 
the  life  of  chivalry,  of  the  doings  of  the  common  people, 
of  moral  aspects  and  customs  —  all  of  which  our  ballads 
unroll  before  us.  All  that  can  be  thought  of  here  is  to 
bring  to  light  general  features  of  ballad  poetry  regarded  as 
a  specific  form  of  poetry,  to  see  in  what  degree  it  adapts 
itself  to  that  epic  scope  of  action  with  lyrical  backgrounds 
which  it  has  chosen,  for  better  or  for  worse,  as  a  scene  of 
action ;  to  indicate  the  general  point  of  view  of  ballad 
poetry  respecting  religion  and  the  instinct  of  patriotism. 
But  these  various  researches  may  also  be  undertaken  in 
order  that  the  boundaries  of  the  ballads  may  be  drawn  more 
distinctly,  and  thus  what  is  new  and  what  is  old  be  de- 
termined more  sharply.  Finally  I  shall  endeavor  to  throw 
some  light  upon  the  means  used  by  the  ballads  to  further 
their  poetical  ends. 

1  Both  Child  and  Grundtvig  have  laid  the  student  under  great  obliga- 
tions in  this  respect  in  their  introductions  to  the  ballads.  —  Translator. 

170 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          17 1 
I.  NATURE 

In  a  consideration  of  the  ballad's  point  of  view  as  that 
of  the  epic  with  a  lyrical  background,  the  first  question 
that  forces  itself  upon  the  attention  is,  What  is  the  attitude 
of  the  ballads  toward  nature  ? 

Nature  is  always  depicted  in  the  ballads  only  as  a  back- 
ground for  events  ;  almost  without  exception  what  we  meet 
with  is  intimations  like  "  Late  in  the  evening  when  the  dusk 
drew  on"  or  a  remark  like  "  Now  crows  the  cock."  The 
place  is  always  indicated  in  general  terms  —  on  the  strand, 
on  the  mountain  side,  under  the  linden,  in  the  orchard,  in 
the  rose  grove,  by  the  castle  gate,  upon  the  grassy  field.  Of 
flowers  there  are  named  only  the  rose  —  but  its  realistic 
thorns  are  never  mentioned  —  and  the  lilies ;  we  have  found 
once  "  She  made  a  garland  and  't  was  violet  blue  "  (No.  1 89, 
B  8).  Only  in  the  refrain  does  the  joy  in  nature  come  out 
at  all  decisively,  but  it  is  never  a  pleasure  in  nature's  many 
details.  Here  rings  out  clearly  the  delight  in  the  linden  tree, 
the  favorite  tree  of  the  ballads,1  in  spring  and  in  summer. 
The  birds  sing,  but  their  names  are  not  given ;  and  it  is  only 
in  the  later  ballads  that  the  nightingale  is  allowed  to  be  heard. 
In  the  colors  also  there  is  shown  but  little  naturalism  ;  the 
standing  expressions  constantly  appear.  The  maiden's  arms 
are  lily-white,  the  steed  at  times  can  be  white  as  a  wall 
(No.  182,  E  5) ;  but  the  silver  especially  gleams  white  and 
the  gold  red.  The  eyes  of  the  dying  queen  Dagmar  are 
red  as  blood  (No.  135,  A  19);  otherwise  they  are  pref- 
erably likened  to  the  red  of  roses.  The  ground  is  black 
and  so  is  the  moor  ;  "  what  is  blacker  than  the  sloe  ? " 

1  Johannes  Steenstrup,  Normannerne,  I,  182  ff. 


172         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Svend  Vonved  asks,  and  gets  for  an  answer,  "  Sin"  (No.  1 8, 
A  29).  "  Blacker  than  the  sloe  "  is  furthermore  an  expres- 
sion belonging  to  the  Romanic  languages  (IV,  751).  "  Like 
doves  so  blue"  appears  once  (No.  181,  E  15).  In  short, 
a  very  limited  choice  of  figures  is  permitted  to  colors,  and 
these  are  far  from  being  realistic.  Such  verses  as  these 
have  ventured  pretty  far  out  from  shore  : 

No.  73,  A  26.  By  the  river's  side  I  wandered  down 

I  looked  at  the  flowers  both  blue  and  brown. 

27.  I  looked  at  the  flowers  both  blue  and  brown, 
The  fairest  I  thought  to  pick  for  my  own. 

28.  I  looked  at  the  roses,  both  red  and  white, 
They  stand  in  their  fairest  growth  bedight. 

These  verses  are  noted  down  as  early  as  1550;  but  from 
the  text  recorded  by  Kristensen  (II,  No.  34),  a  text  which 
goes  back  independently  to  the  original  version,  they 
have  disappeared. 

In  the  refrain,  on  the  other  hand,  delight  in  the  world 
of  nature  is  allowed  expression.  And,  since  we  have 
already  seen  how  closely  related  the  first  stanza  often  is  to 
the  refrain,  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  some 
praise  of  nature  creeps  out  in  the  first  stanza.  Accordingly 
the  oldest  text  of  the  "  Faithless  Bride  "  (Kristensen,  I, 
No.  90  ;  II,  No.  73  ;  III,  No.  57),  from  Karen  Brahe's 
Folio  Manuscript  (No.  355)  runs  thus : 

1 .  There 's  come  so  merry  a  summer  this  year, 
Cold  winter  is  fled  away ; 

Roses  and  lilies  are  springing  up, 
The  forest  is  decked  so  gay. 
Now  comes  the  pretty  time. 

2.  It  was  the  bold  Sir  Nilaus,  etc. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          173 

The  stanza  has  all  but  assumed  the  burden  of  a  refrain. 
The  same  stanza  appears  in  No.  356,  and  a  stanza  of 
similar  nature  turns  up  here  and  there  and  in  an  odd  bal- 
lad ;  in  any  case,  it  belongs  to  the  framework  and  not  to 
the  text  itself.  We  might  well  wonder  why  a  stanza  con- 
cerning nature  does  not  appear  far  more  often  in  our  bal- 
lads, for  such  an  introductory  reference  to  nature  is  very 
general,  for  instance,  in  the  German  ballads  ;  in  fact,  it  is 
found  in  all  folk  poetry  the  world  over,  from  the  songs  of 
the  Romanic  peoples  in  the  west  to  the  poetry  of  the 
Chinese  and  the  Malays  in  the  east.  Of  a  very  different 
order,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that  endeavor  to  harmonize  the 
natural  environment  with  the  poet's  own  feelings,  such  as 
we  find  in  the  German  poetry  of  art ;  namely,  the  minne- 
songs.1  No  such  element  is  to  be  found  in  our  popular 
ballads. 

The  statement  just  made  will  be  illuminated  by  a  dis- 
cussion of  individual  ballads  which  form  exceptions.  The 
famous  ballad  "The  Game  at  Dice"  (No.  238)  —  "And 
do  thou  hear,  thou  bonny  boy,  come  play  at  dice  with  me  " 
—  has  been  noted  down  also  in  Iceland,  and  concerning 
it  Grundtvig  remarks  that  "  scarcely  any  other  of  the  Ice- 
landic popular  ballads  bears  a  more  decided  stamp  of  its 
Danish  origin."  At  the  same  time  the  Icelandic  version 
departs  very  widely  from  the  Danish,  the  cause  of  which 
presumably  is  that  it  represents  a  much  older  Danish  tra- 
dition than  does  that  which  meets  us  in  the  records  of  the 
seventeenth-nineteenth  centuries.  "  The  Icelandic  tradition 
gives  us,  if  anything,  the  ballad  as  it  ran  in  the  twelfth 

1  See  Zeit.  f.  d.  Altertum,  XIX,  199  ft . ;  XXIX,  192  ff . ;  Zeit.  f.  d. 
Philologie,  XIX,  444  ff. 


1/4         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

and  thirteenth  centuries."  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that 
one  must  be  somewhat  cautious  in  venturing  to  say  what 
the  poem  was  like  in  the  twelfth  century ;  it  would  certainly 
prove  a  difficult  matter  to  furnish  any  evidence  of  what 
the  ballad  was  like  at  that  precise  period.  On  this  point, 
however,  I  shall  dwell  no  longer.  Here  follow  the  opening 
stanzas  of  the  Icelandic  version  (translated  by  Grundtvig 
into  Danish,  "  Islenzk  FornkvaeSi,"  No.  38) : 

1.  It  is  so  merry  on  a  summer's  day 
Every  maid  grows  gentle  and  gay. 

2.  The  maidens  deck  them  one  and  all : 
Some  in  silk  and  some  in  pall. 

3.  In  softest  silk  their  limbs  are  arrayed, 
They  rest  beneath  the  linden's  shade. 

4.  They  rest  them  at  the  linden's  foot, 
The  stag  his  horn  thrusts  in  its  root. 

5.  The  stag  his  horn  thrusts  in  the  tree, 
The  fishes  sport  so  light  in  the  sea. 

6.  The  maiden  sits  aloft  in  her  bower, 
She  plays  at  chess  by  the  hour. 

The  earliest  manuscript  in  which  these  verses  are  found 
dates  from  1665.  I  need  not  affirm  that  this  sort  of 
verse  never  appears  in  our  Danish  ballads,  and  that  if 
such  a  form  of  composition  had  prevailed  in  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  or  throughout  the  entire  Middle 
Ages,  and  if  such  detailed  sketches  of  nature  had  been 
drawn,  they  certainly  would  have  left  their  mark  on 
the  ballads.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  absolutely 
wanting. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          1/5 

One  version  of  "  The  Maiden  transformed  into  a  Bird  " 
(No.  56),  which  is  found  in  a  manuscript  of  the  time  of 
Frederick  II,  begins  thus  : 

C  i.  I  know  well  where  a  forest  stands, 
It  stands  far  out  by  the  fjord ; 
Within  it  grow  the  fairest  trees 
That  are  known  to  knight  or  lord. 

2.  Within  it  grow  the  fairest  trees, 
Willows  and  lindens,  their  name ; 
Within  it  sport  both  hart  and  hind, 
The  honest  beasts  so  tame. 

3.  Within  it  sport  both  hart  and  hind 
And  other  beasts  are  seen  ; 

There  sings  a  little  nightingale  (Nachtegal) 
In  a  linden  tree  so  green. 

4.  This  asked  then  Niclaus  Erlandsson.  .  .  . 

These  stanzas  are  not  included  in  the  other  forms  ;  on  the 
other  hand,  they  haunt  a  number  of  Norse  and  Swedish 
ballads  and  also  turn  up  elsewhere  in  Denmark.  They  are 
not  native  to  the  "  birdskin  ballads  "  and  their  origin  is 
betrayed  by  the  German  word  Nachtigal ;  in  German 
songs  similar  stanzas  appear  very  frequently  (cf .  Grundtvig, 
III,  834). 

Just  as  the  lyrical  element  in  the  ballads  is  seldom  satis- 
fied with  pictorial  images  of  nature's  details,  so  is  the  ballad 
temperate  in  its  use  of  nature  for  allegorical  ends  as  well 
as  in  the  practice  of  framing  thoughts  in  pictures.  It  is 
certainly  startling  to  come  across  such  stanzas  as  the  fol- 
lowing from  "The  Maiden  in  the  Woods"  (No.  416). 
A  knight  finds  a  maiden  in  the  woods  and  rests  the  live- 
long night  by  her  side.  When  he  meets  her  brothers  the 


176         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

next  morning,  he  is  asked  where  he  has  been.  They  accuse 
him  of  having  slept  with  their  sister,  upon  which  he  replies : 

I  rode  me  out  to  chase  the  deer, 
Your  sister  I  never  knew ; 
I  baited  me  the  fairest  deer 
That  came  first  to  my  view. 

It  hid  itself  under  my  scarlet  cloak, 
With  me  was  well  contented ; 
That  suited  me  well  and  made  me  glad, 
Of  that  I  've  not  repented. 

I  made  the  wild  deer  run  to  the  forest 
Before  my  hounds  so  fleet ; 
The  tame  deer  to  my  bosom  I  pressed, 
Our  hearts  with  joy  did  beat. 

A  maid  she  was  both  fine  and  bold 
As  man  could  wish  to  see. 
If  she 's  your  sister,  I  pray  you  then 
You  let  our  wedding  be. 

Thus  a  modern  poet  might  well  sing;  but  the  lengthy 
comparison  and  the  great  amount  of  pictorial  language  have 
no  connection  with  good  ballad  style.  None  of  the  manu- 
scripts have  these  stanzas,  neither  are  they  to  be  found  in 
the  modern  copies.  They  were  composed  by  Vedel,  who 
probably  discovered  his  models  in  various  German  ballads. 
There  exist  a  number  of  vagabond  verses  which  have 
taken  root  in  every  possible  place,  and  which  are  really 
acknowledged  by  no  one  : 

To  hold  a  young  man  to  his  word 
Is  like  taking  an  eel  by  the  tail. 

To  hold  a  young  man  to  his  faith 
Is  like  riding  over  a  rotten  bridge. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          I// 

In  Queen  Sophie's  Ballad  Manuscript  these  verses  stand  un- 
attached to  any  ballad ;  in  Vedel's  "Tragica"  they  form  the 
conclusion  of  a  ballad,  and  likewise  of  ballads  from  copies 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Even  in  our  own  time  they  flit 
about  and  attach  themselves  to  other  vagrant  stanzas  (see 
Nos.  230,  462).  In  this  way  these  lines,  along  with  others, 
have  connected  themselves  with  two  other  lines,  which  also 
belong  to  the  vagabonds  of  the  world  of  later  folk  songs : 

Ah !  had  I  the  door-key  to  this  day, 

To  the  bottom  of  the  sea  I  'd  cast  it  away ; 

or  with  clearer  application  in  the  ballad  of  "  The  Bridal  " 

(No.  88) : 

And  if  they  'd  had  the  key  to  lock  the  morning's  door, 
They  would  have  wished  the  night  would  ne'er  be  o'er. 

However  excellent  these  figures  may  be  otherwise,  they 
are  wholly  foreign  to  the  style  of  our  ballads  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  these  lines  belong  to  the  conscious,  intensely  lyrical 
songs  of  Germany.  And  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  point  them 
out,  since  they  are  very  general  in  old  German  and  Dutch 
ballads.  In  these  the  lovers  express  a  wish  that  the  night 
would  never  end,  that  they  could  lock  up  the  dawn  and 
the  day  and  throw  the  key  into  the  water.  As  early  as 
the  fifteenth  century  these  verses  are  found  quoted  in  a 
Netherlandish  manuscript  and  run  as  follows 1 : 

Had  ic  den  slotel  vanden  daghe, 
ic  weerpen  in  ghender  wilder  Masen 
oft  vander  Masen  tot  inden  Rijn, 
al  en  soude  hi  nemmer  vonden  sijn. 

1  Since  the  above  was  written  these  shifting  verses  have  been  thor- 
oughly discussed  by  Richard  Steffer,  Enstrofig  nordisk  folklyrik.  Nyare 
bidrag  till  kannedom  af  svenska  landsmilen,  hefte  63. 


1 78         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

II.  RELIGION 

Let  us  turn  from  the  feeling  for  nature  in  the  ballads  to 
their  attitude  toward  religion.  Here  we  meet  first  of  all  the 
legendary  ballads,  for  which  Grundtvig  seems  to  have  had 
an  especial  affection  —  he  has  included  no  less  than  four- 
teen in  his  "  Selected  Danish  Ballads."  I  confess  that  in 
regard  to  these  ballads  I  entertain  some  critical  doubts. 
That  legendary  ballads  were  composed  in  Denmark  during 
the  Middle  Ages  is  probable  enough.  I  shall  not  deny 
that  several  of  the  ballads  preserved  were  written  in  that 
period  ;  very  possibly  Peter  Palladius  had  these  in  mind  in 
his  "  Visitation  Book,"  when  he  forbade  pipers  at  weddings 
and  banquets  to  sing  "  their  ungodly  ballads  on  the  invok- 
ing of  saints  and  other  such  "  (p.  79).  At  the  same  time 
many  of  them  are  not  substantiated  by  evidence  of  any 
kind.  They  appear  in  broadsides  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  their  form  is  not  such  as  to  warrant  the  supposition 
that  they  are  old. 

In  all  probability  the  rupture  with  Catholicism  here  in 
Denmark  was  so  sharp  that  everything  which  bore  marks 
of  the  old  faith  was  grudgingly  allowed  to  live.  Neverthe- 
less it  is  strange  that  not  a  single  one  of  these  ballads  is  to 
be  found  in  manuscript ;  several  of  them,  however,  contain 
in  reality  very  little  Catholicism.  On  the  other  hand,  one 
can  very  readily  admit  the  possibility  of  a  new  immigration 
of  legendary  ballads  from  abroad  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  We  know  assuredly,  as  has  been 
pointed  out  a  number  of  times,  that  new  varieties  of  ballads 
made  their  way  into  the  country  during  these  periods. 
Apparently  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  our  soldiers  of 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          179 

the  Thirty  Years'  War,  or  our  troopers  in  foreign  service, 
or  our  seamen  in  harbors  abroad,  not  to  speak  of  various 
wandering  warriors  and  artisans,  from  bringing  back  such 
ballads.  I  need  not  go  farther  into  this  phase  of  the  sub- 
ject, since  a  notice  of  these  ballads  is  not  necessary  to 
establish  the  statements  which  I  wish  to  lay  down.  Pre- 
cisely because  the  old  records  are  not  forthcoming,  the 
history  of  these  ballads  escapes  our  eyes.  I  own  to  a  cer- 
tain fear  that  much  of  what  is  given  for  ancient  in  reality 
is  not.1 

We  shall  leave  out  of  consideration  therefore  the  genu- 
inely religious  or  legendary  ballads.  Concerning  all  others 
the  rule  holds  good  that  however  many  remarkable  and 
marvelous  things  happen,  miracles  never  find  a  place.  It 
is  not  by  prayers  and  petitions  to  God  and  to  the  saints 
that  metamorphosed  knights  and  maidens  get  their  own 
shape  back  again,  nor  is  it  by  making  the  sign  of  the  cross 
nor  by  reading  the  Scriptures  that  evil  is  bested.  The 
intervention  of  the  Virgin  Mary  or  of  holy  men  is  un- 
necessary ;  that  which  heals  or  reshapes,  that  which  draws 
the  frigid  lover  to  longing  is  mysterious  remedies,  the 
various  instruments  of  superstition,  the  token  and  the 
mystic  word.  Runes  have  a  wonderful  alluring  power,  a 
man's  life  is  bound  up  in  his  name  as  if  in  a  mathematical 

1  In  any  case  the  real  legendary  ballads  may  assuredly  be  regarded 
as  being  farther  removed  from  folk  poetry.  In  the  field  of  German  folk 
poetry  —  but  consequently  in  the  realm  of  the  lyric  —  some  German 
writers,  as,  for  example,  Vilmar,  show  no  inclination  to  recognize  a  clerical 
or  religious  popular  ballad.  Even  Bohme  remarks  :  "  Upon  the  whole, 
one  cannot  call  spiritual  songs  true  ballads  even  though  they  exhibit  no 
ecclesiastical  marks  and  would  be  nothing  more  than  religious  poems ; 
there  is  wanting  the  genuine  folk  tone,  above  all  naivete"  (Altdeutsches 
Liederbuch,  pp.  xlvi,  676). 


1 80         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

power,  and  with  or  against  this  one  can  work  precisely  as 
though  it  were  the  man  himself.  In  a  kiss  lies  witchcraft, 
which  releases  that  which  is  bewitched,  and  drinking  a 
man's  warm  blood  and  tasting  of  his  flesh  leads  to  meta- 
morphosis. 

Grundtvig  has  incidentally  said  the  same  things  that 
have  here  been  asserted,  and  in  an  excellent  manner. 
That  which  gave  him  the  occasion  was  "  The  Dalby  Bear  " 
(No.  64).  A  bear  goes  into  Dalby 's  fields  and  knocks 
everything  down,  causing  the  farmers  great  annoyance.  In 
reality  the  bear  is  the  king's  son,  who  has  been  transformed 
by  his  stepmother.  The  old  copy  of  the  ballad  omits  the 
explanation  of  how  the  bear  regained  his  former  shape ; 
one  learns  that  he  engages  in  conflict  with  a  man,  but 
nothing  further.  The  diffuse  text  of  Anders  Sorensen 
Vedel,  on  the  contrary,  reads  that  the  man,  after  fighting 
with  the  bear  and  hearing  how  the  latter  has  been  trans- 
formed by  his  stepmother,  who  has  laid  an  iron  band  on 
his  neck,  says  : 

22.  "I  shall  release  you  from  your  plight: 
Mary's  Son,  who  sets  all  things  right, 

23.  He  will  loose  for  you  that  hard  band, 

So  great  is  the  power  of  His  right  hand." 

24.  The  knight  made  over  him  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
The  band  it  broke,  and  he  was  loose. 

25.  He  then  became  a  knight  so  bold, 
His  father's  kingdom  he  came  to  hold. 

These  verses,  and,  in  fact,  almost  all  of  Vedel's  contribu- 
tion, Grundtvig  would  not  admit  to  be  genuine ;  there  is 
nothing  in  the  language,  style,  or  rime  that  suggests  any 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          181 

great  age,  "  and  as  far  as  the  substance  is  concerned,  it  is 
very  suspicious  that  the  bear's  release  is  brought  about  by 
a  miracle,  a  procedure  that  is  never  met  with  in  any  of  the 
many  tales  of  transformation  and  deliverance  which  we 
find  as  the  subject  of  our  old  ballads.  For  the  remarkable 
circumstance  connected  with  these,  and  one  which  indicates 
great  age,  is  that  the  trace  of  Christianity  which  appears 
in  them  never  touches  their  essential  nature;  the  action 
itself  goes  on  everywhere  (if  one  may  so  speak)  according 
to  Nature's  own  laws  of  the  supernatural.  In  contrast  with 
this  hard  and  fast  situation,  stands  here  one  in  which  only 
through  divine  assistance  the  knight  is  enabled  to  break 
the  band  that  held  the  bear  imprisoned."  These  words 
are  true  and  pertinent,  and  can  be  substantiated  by  many 
ballads. 

But  Grundtvig  has  not  always  applied  his  true  percep- 
tions nor  has  he  always  followed  them  out  to  their  conse- 
quences. Precisely  because  the  religious  impulse  and  the 
encroachments  of  the  God  of  Christianity  in  events  are 
so  rare,  Grundtvig's  remarks  on  "  The  Game  at  Dice  " 
(No.  238)  are,  it  seems  to  me,  incorrect.  This  is  the 
excellent,  well-known  song,  "  And  do  thou  hear,  thou 
bonny  boy,  come  play  at  dice  with  me,"  in  which  the 
maiden  plays  away  everything  she  owns  and  finally  her 
honor  and  her  faith.  She  desires  to  purchase  her  freedom, 
but  the  bonny  boy  will  not  accede,  and  already  she  sighs 
despairingly  over  the  match  she  has  made.  The  youth 
then  discloses  his  identity  as  the  king's  son.  In  one  of 
the  later  versions  which  Kristensen  has  collected  (II, 
No.  40),  the  story  runs  that  the  maiden  was  lucky  at  the 
beginning  of  the  play  : 


1 82         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

A  13.  The  knight  goes  into  the  garden,  lets  fall  the  bitter  tear: 

"  I've  rolled  the  dice  with  the  maiden,  my  luck  went  against 
me  here ! " 

14.  There  came  to  him  from  heaven  a  voice  both  loud  and  clear : 
"  Go  roll  the  golden  dice  with  the  maiden  one  time  more." 

He  ventures  one  more  trial  and  wins  thereby  her  honor 
and  troth. 

According  to  Grundtvig,  the  recent  forms  deserve 
especial  attention  because  they  give  us  the  ballad  in  an 
older  shape  and  closer  to  the  original  form  of  the  legend. 
In  them  the  old  legend  is  serious  in  tone,  whereas  the 
later  versions  are  facetious.  Now  it  is  unfortunate  that 
these  recent  forms  are  wholly  meaningless.  We  can  repeat 
Grundtvig's  own  words :  "In  version  A  the  knight  has 
played  away  horse  and  saddle  and  eighteen  farms  in 
Skaane ;  in  B  even  two  kingdoms  and  seven  ships  at  sea. 
After  all  this  the  maiden  surely  cannot  look  upon  him  as 
a  simple  boatman."  This  statement  admits  of  no  question, 
and  here  we  have  one  of  those  not  infrequent  cases  in 
which  it  is  the  late  recorded  forms  that  have  so  very  slight 
a  value  and  are  rather  misleading  than  instructive.  And 
to  this  should  be  added  that  the  proud  king's  son  steps 
entirely  out  of  his  character  when  he  goes  down  to  the 
garden  and  weeps  over  having  lost  eighteen  farms  in 
Skaane.  When  moreover  he  is  said  to  be  assisted  by  a 
voice  from  Heaven,  a  voice  which  can  call  out  that  things 
will  once  more  turn  out  well  for  him  if  he  but  venture 
another  cast  of  the  dice,  then  we  have  entered  the  realm 
of  the  ludicrous,  the  tasteless,  and  the  profane. 

Grundtvig  points  to  the  Icelandic  version  ("  Islenzk 
FornkvaeSi,"  No.  38)  as  the  one  which  is  to  give  us  the 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          183 

ballad  in  its  oldest  shape  —  in  fact,  "  in  the  shape  which 
was  current  in  Denmark  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries."  Here  the  ballad  strikes  a  serious  tone ;  it  is 
no  disguised  prince,  but  a  knight  who  has  fallen  a  victim 
to  passion  and  plays  away  everything ;  then  he  goes  out 
and  calls  upon  God  for  better  luck  and  wins.  But  to 
what  extent  the  ballad  has  become  Catholic  will  appear 
from  verses  such  as  these : 

He  then  went  out  by  the  garden  wall, 
On  God  and  Saint  Canute  he  calls. 

He  calls  on  God  and  the  holy  Cross : 

"  Let  not  the  maiden  play  our  life  from  us !  " 

He  calls  on  God  and  Saint  Paul, 

The  tricks  of  the  game,  that  he  win  them  all. 

He  calls  on  God  and  the  holy  Shrine, 
That  the  maiden  should  belong  to  him. 

I  believe  that  our  ballads,  taken  as  a  whole,  will  testify  to 
the  fact  that  such  a  sudden,  solemn  invocation  of  higher 
powers  is  as  wholly  unknown  to  the  earliest  versions  of  the 
ballad  as  is  the  intervention  of  these  same  powers.  Further- 
more it  is  truly  remarkable  that  all  the  various  Danish, 
Norwegian,  and  Swedish  texts,  however  diversified  they 
may  appear  to  be,  exhibit  absolutely  no  trace  of  the  inter- 
ference of  Heaven,  if  we  set  aside  the  two  meaningless 
texts  which  have  turned  up  last.  That  the  ballad  dates 
from  the  Middle  Ages  can  well  be  doubted,  since  it  cannot 
be  traced  farther  back  than  Peder  Syv's  time  (c.  1695  or 
1700).  The  Icelandic  ballad  has  taken  on  such  a  priestly 
and  learned  character  that  it  might  well  arouse  suspicion ; 


1 84        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

with  the  exception  of  the  last  stanza,  the  lines  quoted 
above  are  found  in  manuscripts  as  early  as  1665.  Never- 
theless the  ballad,  even  in  this  form,  is  forbearing  enough 
not  to  allow  Heaven  itself  to  speak,  nor  does  it  give  instruc- 
tions to  the  knight  how  to  play  the  game.  But  can  these 
lines  attest  anything  else  than  the  taste  which  prevailed  in 
the  seventeenth  century  ?  To  shift  the  ballad  back  to 
Catholic  times,  on  the  ground  of  its  invocation  of  the 
saints,  would  be  to  leave  out  of  account  the  learned  hands 
by  which  the  ballad  has  been  preserved. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  similar  use  of  a  voice  from  Heaven 
is  found  in  a  ballad  (Unpublished  No.  101)  which  tells  how 
a  mother,  during  the  bridegroom's  absence,  had  his  true- 
love,  Amor,  buried  alive : 

One  must  have  heard  far  over  the  sound 
How  Amor  shrieked  beneath  the  ground. 

One  must  have  heard  in  foreign  town, 
How  Amor  cried  beneath  the  ground. 

There  came  a  voice  to  the  knight's  own  door  : 
"  Your  mother  has  buried  alive  Amor." 

Now  one  would  think  it  sufficient  if  Amor's  complaining 
cry  reached  her  lover's  ears  in  the  foreign  land ;  but  the 
poet,  who,  on  the  whole,  is  lacking  in  taste,  has  intro- 
duced Heaven.  The  ballad  is  found  in  only  one  manu- 
script, which  dates  from  1650. 

I  shall  cite  further  several  examples  to  make  good  the 
assertion  that  miracles  do  not  happen  in  the  ballads.  As 
far  as  "  The  Maiden  in  the  Linden  "  (No.  66)  is  concerned, 
one  will  be  able  to  note  a  difference  according  as  a  copy 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE           185 

from  the  sixteenth  or  from  the  seventeenth  century  is  used. 
In  A  and  B  it  runs  naturally  and  prettily  : 

A  24.  He  gave  a  kiss  to  the  linden  root, 
So  she  became  a  maiden  good. 

B  22.  He  laid  him  down  and  kissed  its  root, 
So  she  became  a  maiden  good. 

On  the  contrary,  C  (written  down  in  1650)  relates  : 

28.  King  Magnus  he  laid  him  upon  the  green  earth, 
And  then  he  kissed  the  linden  root. 

29.  He  kissed  it  once,  he  kissed  it  twice, 
The  root  stood  ever  as  it  was. 

30.  The  third  time  he  called  on  the  Son  of  Mary, 
Then  the  linden  became  a  maiden  fair. 

That  these  three  stanzas  neither  fly  the  old  ensign  nor 
outweigh  poetically  the  simple  lines  of  the  other  two  forms 
may  be  taken  for  granted. 

The  three  versions  of  "  The  Trold  and  the  Housewife  " 
(No.  5  2)  which  are  known  from  old  manuscripts  assert  that 
the  trold  is  released  and  transformed  by  the  kissing  of  the 
farmer's  wife ;  Vedel  alone  relates  that  when  he  would 
kiss  for  the  third  time  she  called  on  the  Son  of  Mary, 
and  then  the  trold 's  skin  fell  off.  In  the  "  Lind-Worm  " 
(No.  65)  Peder  Syv  has,  as  Grandtvig  points  out,  added 
a  stanza  in  which  the  Son  of  Mary  is  invoked. 

There  is  one  ballad,  "  The  Water  of  Life  "  (No.  94), 
which  we  might  believe  has  lighted  upon  a  miracle.  The 
king  has  found  a  suspicious  relation  existing  between  the 
queen  and  the  count,  for  which  he  has  had  the  count  put 
to  death,  chopped  to  pieces,  and  placed  before  his  wife  as 


1 86        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

a  dish.  She  discovers  what  is  offered  to  her,  collects  all 
the  pieces,  and  carries  them  to  Maribo's  well : 

A  20.  In  clearest  water  she  then  dipped  them : 

"  Stand  up,  stand  up,  thou  Christian  man !  " 

21.  The  man  stood  up  and  thanked  God, 
So  from  his  country  he  fared  abroad. 

Thus  runs  the  ballad  with  Peder  Syv.  But  a  copy  from 
popular  tradition  reads : 

615.  She  picked  up  the  fingers,  she  picked  up  the  legs, 
To  the  living  water  so  fared  she  then. 

1 6.  She  washed  the  fingers,  she  washed  the  legs, 
"  Stand  up,  little  Lofgren,  and  be  a  man !  " 

What  is  referred  to  in  the  expression  "  det  levende  Vand  " 
(the  living  water)  is  the  old  German  heilawdc,  that  is,  heal- 
ing water  or  healing ;  in  an  old  English  magic  formula  it  is 
hdlew&g,  and  heilivdgr  in  several  Icelandic  sagas  ;  it  also 
appears  in  Norse  and  Faroese  ballads  and  in  the  Danish 
ballad  of  "  The  Valraven  "  (No.  60  ;  A  16,  17) : 

So  flew  he  then  to  Hileva's  well, 

So  dipped  the  maiden  in  Hileva's  flood 

(see  Grundtvig's  remarks,  III,  835).  Here  then  we  are 
constantly  within  the  bounds  of  the  supernatural ;  the  word 
has  nothing  to  do  with  hellig  (holy),  but  with  hel  (healthy) ; 
in  the  Laws  of  Skaane  it  runs  :  "  hel  aellaer  siukaer,"  — 
that  is,  healthy  or  sick  (Helbred,  Helse,  "  health  "),  — and 
the  collecting  and  resuscitation  of  dead  men's  bones  are 
found  in  many  sagas  and  tales  as  well  as  in  the  myths  of 
Thor's  goat.  Peder  Syv  has  had  this  healing  take  place  at 
Maribo's  well. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          187 

We  saw  that  healing  waters  are  found  in  the  ballad  of 
"  The  Valraven  "  (No.  60).  In  this  ballad  various  trans- 
formations take  place.  The  maiden's  betrothed,  who  was 
metamorphosed  into  a  bird,  drinks  her  blood  and  is  re- 
leased. Upon  this  the  dead  maiden  is  recalled  to  life  by 
being  washed  in  Hileva's  well.  Finally  their  child,  who 
was  to  fall  to  the  raven  as  the  price  of  his  assistance,  speaks 
three  words  as  soon  as  it  is  born,  and  by  this  means  effects 
the  release  of  the  Valraven,  which  is  transformed  into  a 
knight.  So  goes  version  A ;  versions  B-E,  however,  run 
somewhat  differently :  the  Valraven  drinks  the  child's 
blood  and  thereupon  is  transformed  ;  the  child  is  revived 
by  all  falling  upon  their  knees  and  praying  to  God  to  re- 
store it  to  life,  or  by  its  being  carried  to  the  holy  place. 
One  feels  upon  reading  these  texts  that  the  picture  as  a 
whole  is  wanting  in  something,  that  a  certain  logical  order 
in  the  management  of  the  universe  is  lacking.  When  it 
is  possible  to  effect  transformations  and  other  wonderful 
deeds  by  means  of  legends  and  superstitions,  it  seems  a 
little  strange  that  final  recourse  must  be  had  to  a  Christian 
miracle,  to  an  invocation  of  God.  If  one  could  prevail 
upon  God  through  prayer  to  interfere,  why  did  he  not  let 
Him  assist  him  from  the  very  beginning  ?  Accordingly 
the  text  quoted  first  appears  to  be  the  more  reasonable ; 
right  from  the  start  it  allows  the  knight  to  be  metamor- 
phosed into  a  Valraven  upon  the  condition  that  upon  the 
first  words  of  the  child  which  is  to  be  born  to  the  maiden 
he  shall  be  released.  Grundtvig  must  have  come  to  a  like 
conclusion,  for  in  his  popular  edition  of  "  Selected  Popular 
Ballads  "  he  says  nothing  of  this  calling  upon  God  for  help. 
With  reference  to  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  dead  in 


1 88        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

"  St.  Gertrude  "  (No.  93  :  St.  Gertrude,  whose  land  has 
been  attacked  and  laid  desolate  by  a  count,  conjures  her 
godfather  up  from  the  grave  and  gets  his  help),  I  shall 
content  myself  with  pointing  out  what  Grundtvig  has 
said  upon  the  subject.  It  is  a  cross  between  a  legendary  bal- 
lad and  a  ballad  of  magic.  In  the  narrative  concerning 
St.  Gertrude  heathen  elements  seem  to  be  present,  and  in 
some  countries  a  use  similar  to  that  of  "  Cyprianus  "  has 
actually  been  made  of  "  Gertrude's  Book  "  (III,  875). 

Of  all  our  ballads,  however  high  and  surely  they  have 
aimed  and  struck,  there  are  none  which  can  be  compared 
with  the  ballads  of  magic.  These  seem  also  to  have  looked 
deepest  into  the  human  heart ;  they  have  depicted  not  only 
love,  but  other  joys  and  sorrows  that  befall  humankind,  and 
in  matchless  words  and  pictures  have  brought  comforting 
thoughts  and  refreshing  promises.  As  a  notable  example 
I  shall  name  here  "  The  Buried  Mother  "  (No.  89)  and 
"  The  Betrothed  in  the  Grave  "  (No.  90).  If  guessing  were 
allowable,  I  should  say  that  these  two  were  written  by  the 
same  ingenious  author.  But  even  in  the  case  of  these  bal- 
lads, which  conduct  us  to  places  the  other  side  of  the  earth 
and  earthly  life,  we  can  perceive  to  what  small  degree  the 
ecclesiastical,  or  the  strictly  Catholic,  element,  or  whatever 
we  should  like  to  call  it,  gets  leave  to  appear ;  although  these 
ballads  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  like  all  our  ballads,  cer- 
tainly built  upon  a  Christian  basis.  When  the  buried  mother, 
observing  how  her  children  are  neglected  by  the  stepmother 
Blide,  is  irresistibly  impelled  to  see  her  children  again, 
naturally  she  must  first  gain  permission  of  God  to  return  to 
middle  earth  (Middelhjem,  corresponding  to  the  Old  Norse 
,  that  is,  the  world  of  men ;  Grundtvig,  III,  870) : 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          189 

On  Saturday  night  at  eventide, 
Then  should  all  souls  in  peace  abide. 

To  the  home  of  angels  she  took  her  way, 
Of  Jesus  Christ  a  boon  did  pray. 

She  prayed  that  to  earth  she  might  return, 
And  talk  again  with  her  small  children. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  go  you  may, 

But  do  not  remain  too  long  away." 

This  is  all  we  hear  of  God  or  of  Christ.  It  is  not  to  preach 
any  Christian  lore  that  the  dead  one  appears  ;  she  indulges 
in  no  threats,  but  merely  tells  her  former  husband,  Sir  Bjorn : 

An  I  must  come  to  you  any  more, 
Blidelil  shall  die  a  death  right  sore. 

When  you  hear  the  hounds  a  moaning, 
Then  you  may  know  the  dead  are  roaming. 

The  punishment  of  the  stepmother  she  promises  here  as 
a  natural,  inevitable  revenge,  and  she  says  nothing  of  the 
punishment  which  God  inflicts  upon  all  wicked  people. 
Thereupon  she  departs,  having  accomplished  everything : 

No  sooner  was  she  beneath  the  mould 
Than  her  children  on  bolsters  blue  did  roll. 

Blide  brushed  them  clean  and  combed  their  hair, 
She  raised  them  up  and  eased  their  care. 

She  gave  them  wine,  she  gave  them  bread, 
And  never  again  did  they  suffer  need. 

Whenever  she  heard  the  hound  a  baying, 
The  children  with  gold  so  red  were  playing. 

Heiberg,  in  his  criticism  of  Hertz's  "  Svend  Dyring's 
Hus,"  pointed  out  that  the  latter,  in  the  chorus  of  angels 
at  the  end  of  the  play,  carried  the  use  of  the  supernatural 


190 

far  beyond  the  stage  that  gives  success  to  illusion ;  and 
here  Heiberg  has  the  support  of  the  ballads,  which  hold 
the  other  world  off  at  a  great  distance. 

The  same  is  true  of  that  other  noble  ballad,  "  The 
Betrothed  in  the  Grave  "  (No.  90).  The  distinctly  Chris- 
tian features  are  repressed  as  much  as  possible,  even  in  the 
scene  where  the  knight  knocks  at  the  door  of  his  truelove's 

bower : 

9.  Then  spoke  the  little  Elselille, 

With  tearful  mien : 

"  And  you  can  name  the  name  of  Jesus, 
You  may  come  in." 

10.  "  Get  up,  get  up,  proud  Elselille, 

Open  the  door ! 

I  can  name  the  name  of  Jesus  as  well 
As  I  could  before." 

When  she  follows  him  to  the  churchyard,  he  reiterates 
that  she  must  sorrow  for  him  no  more  : 

29.  "  Get  up,  get  up,  proud  Elselille, 

And  get  you  home ! 
And  never  weep  again 
For  your  bridegroom. 

30.  "  Look  up  to  heaven  high  and  see 

The  stars  so  small ; 
So  you  will  come  to  know 
How  the  night  doth  fall." 

31.  And  quickly  slid  the  dead  man 

Into  the  ground ; 

So  sorrowfully  goes  proud  Elselille 
Homeward  bound. 

It  is  indeed  possible  that  stanza  30  has  been  changed  and 
that  originally  it  ran  otherwise ;  but,  as  it  lies  before  us,  it 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          191 

contains  at  any  rate  no  reference  to  the  search  after  re- 
ligious consolation.  At  the  most,  it  directs  attention  to  the 
pleasure  of  gazing  at  the  stars  in  heaven,  and  first  and 
foremost  Sir  Aage  refers  to  heaven  in  order  to  turn  away 
Else's  gaze,  which  holds  him  fast,  so  that  he  may  "slide" 
into  the  earth  again.  No,  throughout  the  whole  ballad 
there  sounds  rather  a  consolation  of  a  more  general  human 
order,  —  even  if,  as  has  been  said  before,  the  Christian 
faith  is  always  conceived  of  as  lying  behind,  —  and,  above 
all,  in  the  sublime  stanzas  which  have  an  inherent  healing 
power  of  wonderful  strength  : 

"As  often  as  you  do  weep  for  me, 

And  sad  your  mood : 
Then  stands  my  narrow  coffin  filled 
With  clotted  blood. 

"As  often  as  you  do  sing, 
And  glad  your  mind ; 
Then  is  my  narrow  grave  within 
With  rose-leaves  lined." 

I  shall  now  leave  the  miracles  and  shall  briefly  discuss  in 
conclusion  the  reserve  with  which  even  the  naming  of 
God's  name  is  practiced.  The  way  in  which  God  is  drawn 
into  one  form  of  "The  Trold  and  the  Housewife"  (No.  52) 
deserves  notice.  I  have  already  mentioned  that  version  C 
shows  a  distinct  attempt  to  bring  about  alliteration,  whereas 
the  older  texts  avoid  it.  But  in  another  respect  also  this 
version  points  to  a  later  date : 

C  6.  He 's  hied  him  to  the  farmer's  croft 
Right  late  it  was  one  evening ; 
The  hound  it  growled  in  the  farmer's  croft, 
For  so  our  good  Lord  had  willed  the  thing. 


THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

The  meaningless  intrusion  of  God  in  the  fourth  line  cer- 
tainly requires  no  comment ;  nothing  corresponding  to  it 
is  found  in  the  other  versions.  But  farther  on  in  the  ballad 
we  read : 

14.  Up  then  stood  the  wretched  farmer, 
O  Lord,  hear  well  his  moan ; 
Elline  he  gave,  his  own  true  wife, 
To  the  ugly  trold  for  his  own. 

The  exclamation  contained  in  the  second  line,  the  poet's 
own  utterance,  is  surely  not  original.  The  copyist  mis- 
understood an  exclamation  that  had  been  put  into  the 
mouth  of  the  farmer  thus : 

This  then  spake  the  wretched  farmer : 
"  Lord  God,  hear  well  my  moan." 

In  like  manner  we  find  God  invoked  in  the  other  forms, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  verses  from  C  below.  It  is  not  the 
singer  but  the  actors  that  call  upon  Him  : 

An.  The  housewife  became  right  heavy  of  heart : 
"  Now  help  me,  our  dear  Lord's  Son !  " 

Bio.  "  May  God  that  now  forbid 

That  ever  I  whore  with  a  trold !  " 

C  15.  "  O  Lord,  be  gracious  to  my  poor  woman, 
My  fate  is  hard  to  bear." 

How  later  times  have  changed  the  tone  one  can  see  for 
one's  self  by  noting  the  way  a  ballad  sings  in  the  period  of 
the  Reformation.  It  is  indeed  in  a  ballad  that  we  come 
across  such  a  beginning  as  "Will  ye  listen  and  hear,  A 
ballad  I'll  sing  to  you."  In  No.  172,  "Christian  II  in 
Sweden"  (1520),  we  read: 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE           193 

8.  They  marched  forth  both  over  hill  and  dale 
Through  the  gloomy  forest ; 
In  God,  in  whom  reposed  all  their  faith  : 
Not  in  man  they  set  their  trust.  .  .  . 

u.  The  captains  called  their  riflemen  out, 
They  bade  them  level  their  weapons ; 
"  We  will  advance  if  it  be  God's  will, 
Despite  what  the  Swedish  threaten."  .  .  . 

13.  Sir  Sten  his  leg  was  shot  to  pieces 
In  the  second  shot; 
This  I  say  to  you  in  sooth : 
It  was  foreseen  of  God.  .  .  . 

30.  Praised  be  God,  our  Father  in  Heaven, 
The  Danish  men  the  glory  have  won ! 
God  give  us  rest  in  Heaven  at  last, 
With  him  to  dwell  forever  at  one. 

From  all  the  above  discussion,  two  things,  I  believe,  will  stand 
out  clearly.  First,  the  reader  will  notice  the  great  difference 
between  the  ballads  and  the  rimed  romances,  in  which  we 
usually  meet  with  allusions  to  Christian  dogmas  and  Catholic 
doctrines,  and  in  which  the  language  in  so  many  ways  re- 
minds us  of  ecclesiastical  speech.  Second,  the  evidence  all 
goes  to  show  that  clerical  people  are  not  the  authors  of  the 
ballads.  In  other  words,  there  is  found  in  no  genuine  ballad 
any  indication  that  men  of  learning  or  of  wide  knowledge, 
least  of  all,  ecclesiastics,  are  the  authors  of  the  ballads.  It  is 
related  in  a  chronicle  from  Limburg1  that  a  leprous  monk 
was  the  composer  of  the  very  best  songs  and  melodies,  and 
that  he  had  no  equal  on  the  Rhine  or  elsewhere.  It  is  very 
possible  that  in  Denmark  such  monks  were  to  be  found  who 
composed  ballads ;  but  in  any  case  these  have  an  aspect  which 
does  away  with  the  necessity  of  considering  such  an  origin. 

1  Bohme,  Liederbuch,  p.  xxii. 


194        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

III.  MORALS  AND  WISHES 

In  close  relation  to  the  subject  just  discussed  stands  the 
question,  How  near  do  the  ballads  come  to  the  goal  at 
which  they  aim ;  namely,  the  ethical  and  aesthetic  impression 
they  wish  to  produce  ? 

On  this  point  the  rule  holds  good  that  the  essentially 
objective  movement  of  the  narrative  is  never  interrupted 
by  any  application  to  the  listeners.  We  have  already  seen 
that  all  references  to  the  setting  find  their  place  in  the  re- 
frain. Here  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  parallel  offered  by 
the  Norse  poetry  of  antiquity  in  the  course  of  its  develop- 
ment. Not  until  we  come  to  its  final  flowering  do  we  meet 
with  poems  whose  conclusions  confess  that  pointing  a 
moral  or  uttering  a  wish  was  their  object.  "  Gudrun's  In- 
citement "  (Gudriinarhvot),  for  instance,  ends  as  follows : 

May  every  earl's 
Fate  grow  better, 
Every  woman's 
Pain  grow  lesser, 
When  this  song  of  sorrow 
All  men  sing, 
Gudrun's  incitement, 
Before  all  peoples ! 

Counterparts  to  this  are  found  in  "Atli's  Song"  (Atli- 
),  but  not  in  the  older  poems. 

Blessed  will  he  be  called 
Who  such  a  son  begets, 
Such  heroic  offspring 
As  Gjuke  begot. 
His  praise  shall  live 
Through  all  the  lands 
So  long  as  folk  listen 
To  conflicts  of  passion. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          195 

Such  applications  or  concluding  observations  discover 
themselves  in  a  few  ballads.  We  can  easily  make  clear, 
however,  what  the  true  conditions  are.  "  The  Linden  on 
Lindenberg  "  (No.  205)  ends  so  : 

F  28.  God  pity  the  maiden  wherever  she  be 
Must  live  without  a  friend ! 
She  bargains  with  God  that  she  be  not  tempted 
And  guards  her  honor  to  the  end. 

Grundtvig  has  already  recognized  the  fact  that  F  is  "a 
worked-over  text,  which  for  one  thing  changes  the  phrasing 
to  suit  the  rime,  and  for  another  adds  this  moralizing  clos- 
ing stanza."  The  stanza  is  found  only  in  Dorothea  Thott's 
manuscript  of  the  time  of  Frederick  III  or  Christian  V. 
Belonging  to  the  same  period  is  a  broadside  ballad  with 
rime  in  all  four  lines  and  with  an  entirely  different,  but 
likewise  moralizing,  conclusion  : 

27.  God  grant  him  luck  and  happiness 
Who  regards  his  honor  rightly, 
And  from  that  man  withhold  His  peace 
Who  treats  his  truelove  lightly. 

The  ballad  is  extant,  however,  in  five  other  versions,  which 
are  both  older  and  better  than  these  two  corrupted  texts, 
and  from  them  the  above  stanza  is  absent. 

In  "  Proud  Elin's  Revenge  "  (No.  209)  it  runs  : 

This  is  a  rede  for  every  young  man 

Who  wooes  so  far  away, 

That  he  makes  no  promise  for  the  sake  of  spite  (Hadings  Ref) 

To  any  honest  may. 

He  should  never  go  back  on  his  plighted  word 
Whatever  is  in  his  power ; 
For  falsehood  strikes  its  lord  on  the  neck 
Mayhap  at  any  hour. 


196        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

These  stanzas,  which  read  as  if  they  were  copied  from  a 
book  of  precepts,  were  added  arbitrarily  to  the  ballad  by 
Vedel.  In  its  sole  genuine  form  it  is  extant  in  Karen 
Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript.  Indeed,  on  the  whole,  fabrica- 
tions of  this  kind  constantly  emanate  from  Vedel's  hand 
(see,  for  example,  Nos.  145,  149,  156,  295). 

But  with  respect  to  another  ballad  the  last-named  manu- 
script leaves  the  theory  which  I  have  here  defended  in  the 
lurch.  In  "  The  Maiden's  Morning  Dream  "  (No.  239) 
we  read  these  two  closing  stanzas : 

B  37.  Let  no  one  say  nay  to  another's  desire, 

They  know  not  what  fortune  they  may  yet  acquire. 

38.  Let  no  one  hinder  another  more, 

They  know  not  what  fortune  God  has  in  store. 

Though  it  may  well  be  that  in  the  great  collection  of  ballads 
preserved  in  this  manuscript  we  shall  not  find  another 
single  ballad  which  ends  with  such  a  moralizing  stanza, 
yet  it  appears  from  these  lines  that  not  only  in  Vedel's 
day  but  also  in  1550  there  existed  a  fondness  for  this  sort 
of  talk.  When  the  question  touches  upon  the  genuine 
stamp  of  our  ballads  during  the  Middle  Ages,  then  we 
can  assert  without  regard  to  these  two  exceptional  and 
homely  stanzas  that  such  ballad  endings  were  wholly  un- 
known. Luckily  we  have  a  test  by  which  we  can  determine 
in  some  measure  whether  or  not  such  a  condition  as  this 
text  reveals  is  out  of  the  ordinary.  There  are  found,  in  all, 
twelve  different  texts  of  the  ballad,  of  which  six  belong  to 
old  manuscripts  and  six  to  modern  records.  Moreover  the 
ballad  is  extant  in  Icelandic,  Swedish,  and  in  eight  Norse 
forms  ;  but  halfway  between  all  these  variations  stands  this 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE           197 

version  B  in  apprehensive  solitude,  unattended  by  any  par- 
allel whatsoever  to  its  over-moral  concluding  verse.  There- 
fore we  need  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  it  to  be 
unoriginal  in  the  ballad. 

On  the  whole,  there  is  much  interest  attached  to  the 
study  of  those  ballads  which  exist  in  a  great  number  of 
copies  dating  from  olden  times.  Thus  one  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  how  a  certain  taste,  working  its  way  down, 
sought  to  impress  the  ballads  with  a  character  which  at. 
first  they  did  not  possess.  For  instance,  in  five  versions 
(B,  C,  E,  I,  M)  of  "  The  Youth  of  Vollerslov  "  (No.  298) 
we  meet  an  /  in  the  opening  stanza : 

I  know  a  right  rich  maiden 

By  a  brook  south  in  the  land  ; 

And  she  prayed  that  the  youth  of  Vollerslov 

Might  never  win  her  hand. 

The  other  texts  which  were  written  down  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  begin,  on  the  other  hand,  in  this  fashion  : 

There  lives  a  woman  in  Vermerland, 
And  she  has  daughters  two, 

or 

There  lives  a  right  modest  woman 
By  a  brook  south  in  the  land ; 

that  the  latter  is  the  correct  form  admits  of  not  the  slightest 
doubt.  Corresponding  to  this  intrusion  of  the  /  appears  an 
/  in  the  concluding  stanza.  L,  N,  O  end  so  : 

Praised  be  God  the  Father  in  Heaven, 
From  evil  he  is  able  to  defend ; 
Never  did  I  hear  of  a  worse  journey 
Which  came  to  a  better  end. 

In  K  and  P  these  lines  are  the  concluding  words  of 
Lady  Mettelil,  and  do  not  concern  the  singer  at  all.  And 


198        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

where  B,  C  end  with  "  Thanks  be  to  young  William,"  etc., 
A  (cf.  K)  gives  as  Lady  Mettelil's  last  words :  "  Many 
thanks,  young  Sir  William,"  etc. 

Finally  D  closes  with  a  stanza  which  is  unique  in  the 
whole  fifteen  different  versions  : 

Now  I  warn  both  women  and  maids 

Who  wish  to  live  with  honor, 

That  they  mock  no  man,  neither  rich  nor  poor, 

Even  though  he  be  yet  unborn  (sic !). 

One  will  thus  see  how  unauthentic  are  all  these  expres- 
sions on  the  part  of  the  singer ;  and  since  such  stanzas 
are  wholly  wanting  in  A,  E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  K,  M,  it  can  serenely 
be  maintained  that  the  taste  of  the  sixteenth  and  later 
centuries  bears  the  blame. 

In  version  D  of  "  The  Test  of  Fidelity  "  (No.  252)  we 
find  this  closing  stanza : 

44.  This  it  is  to  be  firm  and  loyal 

To  try  his  truelove  with  honest  toil. 

50.  It  ever  happens  as  God  so  wills, 

He  helps  neither  falsehood  nor  scandal's  ills. 

This  form  is  referred  to  by  Grundtvig  as  "a  late,  —  per- 
haps made  over  in  the  seventeenth  century, — untraditional 
dilution  of  a  genuine  basis  best  represented  in  A,  B."  Since 
therefore  the  three  older  forms,  A,  B,  C,  omit  this  stanza 
and  bring  the  ballad  to  a  close  in  good,  old,  popular  style 
with  holding  a  wedding ;  and  since  the  four  copies  of  the 
present  time,  as  well  as  those  from  the  Faroes  and  Sweden, 
fail  to  recognize  it,  we  may  well  feel  ourselves  justified  in 
saying  that  such  stanzas  are  not  native  to  the  ballads. 

A  ballad  which  to  an  unusual  degree  preaches  a  moral, 
but  which  has  concerned  itself  especially  with  a  certain 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          199 

phase  of  the  moral,  is  "The  Sacrilege"  (No.  112).  It 
emphasizes  in  its  narrative  how  unlucky  it  is  to  go  hunt- 
ing on  the  Sabbath, —  "All  on  the  holy  Eastermorn."  The 
two  hunters  who  are  guilty  of  this  sin  fall  into  a  quarrel 
over  their  horses  and  hounds  and  end  by  killing  each  other. 
The  ballad  gives  no  utterance,  however,  to  any  general 
moral  sentiment  until  it  reaches  the  end.  Seven  of  the 
texts  have  nothing  whatever  to  say  in  conclusion  which  is 
in  any  way  indicative  of  the  quintessence  of  the  ballad. 
Only  in  the  eighth  form,  written  down  in  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  do  we  meet  with  the  stanza : 

G  23.  Now  I  counsel  you,  each  one  and  all, 
Who  early  ride  to  the  wood ; 
That  you  ride  down  to  the  church 
And  fear  Almighty  God. 

"  This  moral  is  manifestly  a  later  addition,"  as  Grundtvig 
very  truly  observes.  But  is  it  not  significant  that  the  taste 
of  later  times  deemed  it  necessary  for  practical  purposes 
to  state  expressly  the  moral  of  the  ballad,  instead  of  allow- 
ing the  fundamental  tone  of  morality  to  find  its  own  echo 
in  the  minds  of  its  hearers  ? 

In  conclusion,  I  shall  merely  add  that  in  "  Anna  Urop's 
Ballad  Book,"  the  ballad  of  "  The  Faithless  Bride  "  (see 
above,  p.  172)  ends  as  follows: 

Then  up  spake  little  Kirsten, 
As  he  ran  the  sword  in  her  side : 
"  I  thought  to  find  a  better  fate, 
Now  sorrow  I  must  abide. 

"  I  warn  every  proud  young  maiden 
Who  thinks  to  keep  her  estate : 
That  she  plight  her  troth  to  only  one  man 
And  hold  to  him  in  good  faith." 


200        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Here  it  might  appear  as  though  the  ballad  poet  himself 
had  spoken  this  concluding  moral,  but  in  reality  it  is  a  part 
of  Little  Kirsten's  speech,  as  is  evident  from  Karen  Brahe's 
Folio  Manuscript.  It  is  purely  by  accident  that  the  ballad 
in  Anna  Urop's  manuscript  concludes  with  this  stanza. 

Ballad  style  demands  a  narrative  of  events  that  is  wholly 
objective.  The  singer  never  mingles  his  judgments  or  re- 
marks with  the  narrative  stream.  If  by  exception  he  steps 
into  view,  it  is  at  the  beginning  of  the  ballad,  or  rather  in 
the  first  stanza  and  possibly  in  the  last.  This  is  so  marked 
a  characteristic  that  any  arrangement  to  the  contrary  is  sure 
to  shock  the  reader.  Now  let  us  read  the  following  stanzas 
taken  from  the  middle  of  a  ballad  on  "  Burd  Ellensborg 
and  Sir  Oluf  "  (No.  303),  beginning  after  the  point  where 
the  maiden  had  plighted  her  troth  with  a  knight  who  had 
slain  her  maternal  uncle  and  who  was  in  consequence  in 
danger  of  his  life  from  her  brothers : 

1 2.  The  young  pair  bade  each  other  good  night 
With  many  a  grievous  groan ; 
May  God  the  Father  who  dwells  in  Heaven 
Grant  that  they  meet  right  soon. 

Then  follows  a  narrative  of  how  the  brothers  kill  Sir  Oluf 
and  of  how  the  maiden  mourns  for  him.  The  detail  cited 
in  the  above  stanza  is  wholly  foreign  to  ballad  style,  and 
should  one  investigate  more  closely  the  sources,  he  will 
find  that  it  is  Peder  Syv,  and  after  him  Abrahamson,  who 
has  altered  the  old  text,  which  in  all  four  versions  runs  : 

The  young  pair  bade  each  other  good  night 
With  many  a  grievous  groan ; 
"  May  God  the  Father  who  dwells  in  Heaven 
Grant  that  we  meet  right  soon." 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          201 

At  the  close  of  the  ballad  a  wish  is  sometimes  in  place. 
Examples  of  this,  however,  are  not  many.  In  one  of  the 
concluding  stanzas  of  "  The  Wager  "  (No.  224)  we  meet 
with  a  "  thanks"  : 

B  24,  C  21.  Thanks  be  to  every  gentlewoman 

Who  brings  up  her  daughter  in  honor ! 
Sir  Peder  rides  out  to  the  Landsthing, 
He  woos  her  with  glory  and  honor. 

This  stanza,  however,  is  found  in  only  two  texts  out  of  the 
nine,  and  both  of  these  were  written  down  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  whereas  several  of 
the  other  texts  were  written  down  half  a  century  earlier. 
The  corresponding  stanza  found  in  the  other  manuscripts 
is  in  keeping  with  normal  ballad  style,  and  runs  with 
several  variations  as  follows : 

This  got  Ingerlil,  Thorlof's  daughter, 
For  giving  Sir  Peder  such  answer : 
Sir  Iver  rides  off  to  her  father's  court, 
And  demands  her  hand  in  marriage. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  same  verse  with  "  thanks  be  " 
occurs  in  all  the  forms  of  "In  Chastity  and  Honor " 
(No.  225),  and  here  too  in  manuscripts  of  the  sixteenth 
century;  likewise  in  "Proud  Ellensborg"  (No.  218),  a 
ballad  preserved  also  in  old  copies,  where  the  expres- 
sion is  even  bound  up  with  another  tramp  line,  "Where 
will  such  another  be  !  " 

Thanks  be  to  proud  Ellensborg, 
Where  will  such  another  be ! 
She  dared  to  fetch  her  own  truelove 
From  the  Easter  king's  country. 


202         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Somewhat  improbable  is  the  exclamation  contained  in 
stanza  12  of  No.  202.  Finally,  one  of  the  best  known  ex- 
amples of  the  "  thanks  be  "  is  found  in  the  last  stanza  of 
the  ballad  "Niels  Ebbeson  "  (No.  156),  with  which  one 
should  compare  "Magnus  Algotson  "  (No.  181).  As  an- 
other example  of  how  a  wish  can  form  a  part  of  the  ballad's 
conclusion  can  be  named  "Sir  Bugge's  Death"  (No.  158), 
where  we  find  in  all  four  texts  : 

The  Medelfar  men,  Christ  give  them  bad  luck, 
They  shot  Sir  Bugge  under  a  safe-conduct ! 

The  Medelfar  men,  Christ  give  them  shame, 
They  shot  Sir  Bugge,  the  well-born  man ! 

IV.  FATHERLAND 

A  conception  of  which  no  mention  is  made  in  our  bal- 
lads is  that  of  fatherland.  Neither  does  it  appear  in  the 
ballads  of  Germany.  But  here  I  must  lay  special  emphasis 
upon  the  fact  that  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  abstract 
notion  of  fatherland.  Certainly  we  should  clearly  distin- 
guish between  whether  the  name  is  missing,  whether  the 
idea  is  wanting,  or  whether,  on  the  whole,  the  feeling 
which  we  call  love  of  one's  native  land  is  nonexistent. 
That  such  a  feeling  did  exist  in  the  fullest  measure  does 
not  admit  of  question.  Our  Danish  nationality  was  de- 
fended against  the  Wends,  Germans,  and  Swedes  by  the 
men  of  the  Middle  Ages  as  bravely  as  by  those  of  any 
other  period  ;  but  with  us,  as  with  other  peoples,  the  prince 
stood  as  the  incarnate  representative  of  the  folk,  its  will  and 
wishes.  The  struggle  for  the  land  became  fused  in  a 
peculiar  manner  with  the  struggle  for  the  king. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          203 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  the  word  "  father- 
land "  appears  in  the  ballads.  In  the  ballad  "  Marsk  Stig's 
Daughters  "  (No.  146)  the  two  daughters  ask  : 

Nothing  else  of  you  we  desire 

Than  you  let  us  go  home  to  our  Fame  (our  father's  land  ?), 

and  the  queen  orders  the  five  knights  : 

"  Ye  shall  lead  the  maids  home  to  Kollen !  " 

In  version  A  the  maidens  are  not  daughters  of  Marsk  Stig 
but  of  "the  king  out  of  Kollen,"  which  is  a  land  of  adven- 
ture. The  place  is  mentioned  also  in  other  Scandinavian 
ballads,  and  perhaps  was  originally  Colonia,  now  Cologne. 
Meanwhile  the  word  Fadrene  comes  closest  in  meaning 
to  "  vor  Faders  Land  "  (that  is,  our  paternal  possessions). 

33.  They  came  not  ere  Yuletide  to  their  fathers'  land   (for  deres 

Faders  Land) 
44.  Promise  us  to  remain  in  your  fathers'  land  (/  Eders  Faders  Land) 

Again  F<zme possibly  means  "paternal  ancestry  "  (fadrene 
Slagt) ;  in  both  these  senses  it  is  used  very  generally  in 
the  "  Provincial  Laws  "  and  in  later  works  (cf.  also  "  The 
Maiden  at  the  Thing  "  (No.  222,  A  17) :  "I  will  give  your 
Grace  my  patrimony  (mit  Fame)  "  ;  "  The  Maiden  trans- 
formed into  a  Bird  "  (No.  56,  B  14,  1 5).  As  is  well  known 
Marsk  Stig's  exiled  adherents  fought  to  win  their  inherit- 
ance, and  Huitfeld  says  that  at  length  it  is  granted  them 
"  to  enjoy  their  fathers  and  their  mothers "  (I,  344). 
Kalkar  in  his  dictionary  translates  Fame  of  the  above  bal- 
lad as  "  fatherland  "  (Fadreneland},  but  he  cites  no  similar 
instance  ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  numerous  examples 
of  its  use  in  the  sense  of  paternal  estate  or  family. 


204        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  B  2  and  D  2  of  "  Ribold  and  Guldborg  "  (No.  82) 
it  runs :  "  To  my  fathers'  land  (Fcedrene  Land}  I  shall 
thee  lead  "  ;  but  the  discrepancy  between  these  texts  from 
Sophie  Sandberg's  manuscript  and  those  from  the  great 
Stockholm  manuscript  of  the  beginning  and  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  as  well  as  the  numerous  other  texts, 
speaks  very  decidedly  against  the  supposition  that  Fadrene- 
land  was  original  here.  Indeed,  by  comparing  "  min  feme 
land  "  (my  paternal  land)  of  B  2  with  til  en  halfieer  land, 
that  is,  dobbelt  saafagert  Land  (doubly  so  fair  a  land)  or 
detfeierste  Land  (the  fairest  land)  of  D,  one  will  see  how 
the  words  originally  ran. 

Although  I  can  find  neither  that  word  nor  Fosterland 
(native  land)  in  Danish  sources  of  the  Middle  Ages,  yet  it 
may  well  have  been  used,  for  we  read  in  Magnus  Smek's 
"  Town  Laws  "  the  words  fadhurlandh  23\&fcedhernis  land, 
and  in  old  Swedish  laws  likewise  Fosterland,  with  refer- 
ence to  both  the  native  province  and  the  country. 

But  as  has  already  been  stated,  love  of  one's  fatherland 
does  not,  on  the  whole,  show  itself  in  our  ballads.  The  same 
thing  holds  true  of  Sweden  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
individual  provinces  as  yet  stood  opposed  to  each  other 
with  so  strong  a  national  independence  that  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  any  very  marked  degree  of  feeling  for  the  father- 
land could  be  expected  of  the  Swedes.  The  monarchical 
unity,  says  Henrik  Schiick,  in  his  excellent  "  Literary  His- 
tory of  Sweden,"  and  the  notion  of  Sweden's  being  one 
land  for  everybody,  Uplanders  as  well  as  West  Goths,  had 
not  yet  come  into  being :  "  It  follows  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence that  in  Swedish  literature,  even  down  to  the  days 
of  Albrecht  of  Mecklenburg  and  Engelbrekt,  Swedish 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          205 

patriotism  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence."  In  what  is  sup- 
posedly the  oldest  work  preserved  to  us,  St.  Sigfred's 
legend,  dating  from  1206,  one  can  notice  how  the  author 
warms  up  to  his  subject  when  he  speaks  of  his  native  parish, 
—  the  beautiful  Varend,  —  but  farther  than  local  patriotism 
one  never  reached.  The  author  of  the  oldest  of  the  rimed 
chronicles,  that  of  Erik's,  is  an  enthusiast  of  the  first 
water,  but  a  proper  patriot  he  is  not.  "  In  the  introduction 
he  has  only  a  few  words  to  say  of  Sweden's  renown,  and 
these  are  quite  trivial ;  but  in  1452,  when  this  introduction 
was  rewritten,  the  tone  changed.  The  new  writer,  in  poetic 
respects,  can  by  no  means  sustain  a  comparison  with  his 
predecessor ;  .  .  .  but  in  one  thing  he  is  a  skald,  one  can 
almost  say  a  great  skald,  and  that  is  when  he  speaks  of 
his  fatherland.  The  nearer  one  comes  to  the  end  of  the 
Middle  Ages  the  higher  this  note  of  patriotism  mounts  up. 
Its  form  manifests  itself  in  an  increasingly  wilder  hatred 
of  the  Danes"  (p.  85). 

The  same  conditions  obtained  no  doubt  in  Denmark, 
and  if  our  ballads  bore  a  date,  we  should  perhaps  discover 
a  similar  change  in  the  national  feeling.  For  instance,  a 
new  national  tone  emerges  characteristically  in  the  ballads 
on  Svend  Felding.  This  famous  hero  rides  to  Rome,  visit- 
ing en  route  a  certain  maiden.  When  she  sees  his  gold- 
stitched  shirt  she  exclaims  that  he  must  be  either  king  of 
Denmark  or  else  of  the  highest  rank.  She  has  heard  all  her 
days  that  the  Danish  men  are  very  brave  ;  therefore  she  is 
very  glad  to  see  one  of  them,  for  a  trold  has  been  plaguing 
her  land  and  carrying  off  women  and  girls  for  food.  Svend 
Felding  is  sufficiently  desirous  of  breaking  a  lance  with 
the  trold  for  her  sake,  but  he  must  have  such  a  horse  and 


206        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

armor  as  will  suit  him.  The  Spanish  horses  which  were 
led  out  for  him  fell  to  the  ground  when  he  barely  laid  hands 
on  them,  upon  which  he  exclaims  : 

A  14.  "  Oh,  I  would  give  the  red,  red  gold, 
But  and  a  thousand  marks, 
If  now  I  had  a  Danish  horse 
Was  born  in  Dennemark." 

15.  And  by  there  came  a  miller  good, 
And  speak  right  well  could  he  : 

"  Oh,  I  have  a  right  good  Danish  horse, 
But  ridden  he  dare  not  be. 

1 6.  "  Oh,  I  have  a  Danish  horse, 
Was  born  in  Saebylund, 

And  every  time  he  goes  to  mill 
Bears  fifteen  hundred  pounds." 

1 7.  "  Hear  me,  thou  good  miller, 
That  horse  now  let  me  see ; 
Then  we  ourselves,  we  two  Danes, 
Will  fight  with  Southrons  three." 

Svend  Felding  then  draws  the  saddle-girths  so  tight  that 
the  horse  falls  down  on  its  knees,  and  at  once  he  rides 
into  combat  against  the  trold.  His  spear  breaks,  however, 
and  his  shield  rolls  on  the  ground. 

27.  Then  sped  he  off  to  the  church, 
His  sins  he  there  confessed ; 
He  bore  away  the  sacrament, 
To  the  spear  he  made  it  fast. 

28.  "  Now  put  away  the  crowned  spear, 
It  failed  me  in  time  of  need ; 

And  fetch  me  hither  a  good  sloop  mast, 
Then  well  I  can  me  speed." 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          207 

In  the  second  tilt  Svend  Felding  breaks  the  evil  one's 
neck.  Then  the  bold  warrior  was  offered  the  maiden  and 
land  and  kingdom ;  but  he  is  already  plighted  to  another 
and  he  will  not  betray  her.  "  But  if  a  Danish  pilgrim  visits 
you,  Spare  neither  bread  nor  wine." 

Evidently  this  is  a  ballad  that  would  commend  itself  in 
the  highest  degree  to  the  Danish  national  feeling.  The 
renown  of  the  Danes  had  already  reached  foreign  lands 
before  Svend  Felding  made  his  journey  south,  but  he  gave 
a  brilliant  exhibition  of  the  might  that  lay  in  a  Danish 
man's  arm  and  of  the  strength  that  resided  in  a  Danish 
horse.  There  is  only  one  vulnerable  point  in  all  this  glory, 
which,  when  viewed  closely,  proves  to  be  an  Achilles'  heel ; 
that  is,  the  circumstance  that  all  this  strength  is  abso- 
lutely of  no  avail.  Only  after  Svend  has  laid  the  Host  on 
the  spear  does  he  gain  the  victory.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
that  is  a  very  stupid  piece  of  business,  for  it  is,  if  anything, 
by  a  trick  or  stratagem  that  Svend  Felding  bears  off  the 
victory.  I  can  think  of  nothing  else  than  that  two  ideas 
here  run  counter  to  each  other.  Moreover  it  is  unintel- 
ligible why  Svend  Felding  takes  the  mast  of  a  sloop  for 
a  weapon,  since  it  is  not  the  weapon  but  what  is  con- 
cealed on  it  that  counts.  Here  again  one  feels,  as  I  have 
pointed  out  in  many  other  ballads,  that  the  religious, 
the  ecclesiastical,  the  Catholic  element  has  been  clapped 
on  later,  and  that  it  is  a  disturbing  and  jarring  force. 
Svend  Grundtvig  must  have  had  the  same  feeling,  for  in 
the  text  which  he  published  in  his  "  Selected  Popular 
Ballads,"  he  leaves  out  altogether  the  stanza  dealing  with 
the  Host  on  the  spear  for  the  reason  that  it  is  wholly 
superfluous. 


208        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

The  second  ballad  on  "  Svend  Felding  "  (No.  32)  also 
makes  use  of  the  Host,  but  in  a  more  rational  manner : 

A  64.  He  bids  consecrate  God's  body, 
Bids  set  it  on  his  spear-shaft ; 
Right  soon  then  fled  the  loathed  trold 
That  sat  on  the  warrior's  back. 

65.  The  second  tilt  they  together  rode 
The  heroes  were  strong  enow ; 
It  was  Sir  Peder  Kaempe, 
His  neck  was  broke  in  two. 

The  German  warrior  has  a  trold  sitting  behind  him  on  his 
horse  ;  it  is  he  whom  Svend  Felding  overthrows  by  means 
of  God's  body.  Upon  this  the  strife  between  the  German 
and  the  Dane  becomes  equalized,  and  now  the  Dane  wins 
the  victory.  In  texts  B,  C  the  motif  respecting  the  Host 
and  the  trold  is  wholly  wanting,  thereby  showing  very 
clearly  that  it  has  been  stitched  on. 

In  this  ballad  Svend  Felding  is  sent  out  by  the  Danish 
king  to  propose  by  proxy  to  the  Lady  Juttelil.  She  is  much 
prejudiced  in  advance  against  the  Danes  and  makes  sport  of 
them  in  various  ways ;  but  she  gets  a  rough  answer  from  Svend 
Felding.  Moreover,  when  Jutta  comes  to  Denmark,  she  is  far 
from  being  pleased ;  she  does  not  think  the  bridal  house  good 
enough,  and  she  rejoices  when  Svend  Felding  is  overthrown 
in  a  j  oust  by  Peder  Kaempe.  But  at  the  next  onset  when  Svend 
Felding  breaks  the  German's  neck,  the  queen  weeps.  The  way 
in  which  B  (in  the  burden)  forms  its  refrain  indicates  the  drift  of 

the  ballad : 

i.  There  are  setting  out  for  Denmark 

Many  a  renowned  knight, 
And  so  many  Germans, 
I  cannot  count  them  quite. 
There  are  setting  out  for  Denmark. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          209 

Whoever  Svend  Felding  may  be,  whether,  as  Bugge  sup- 
poses, the  mythical  hero  Sinfjotli  in  a  new  guise,  or,  as 
Grundtvig  assumes,  "a  popular  mythical  personage  who 
was  certainly  called  into  being  in  comparatively  late  times, 
but  wholly  in  the  old  style  (III,  804),"  I  shall  leave  unsaid. 
But  Grundtvig's  conjecture  that  the  ballad  on  Queen  Jutta 
was  composed  on  the  occasion  of  Erik  Plovpenning's  mar- 
riage with  the  Saxon  Princess  Jutta  (1239)  seems  to  me 
highly  improbable.  In  Ryd  Kloster's  Annals,  to  be  sure, 
one  comes  upon  decidedly  strong  expressions  of  feeling 
against  the  Germans  in  consequence  of  King  Valdemar's 
imprisonment :  "  And  you  should  know  that  the  Germans 
have  seldom  or  never  won  any  advantage  or  victory  over 
the  Danes  without  using  treachery  or  deceit,  as  may  be 
evidenced  in  the  case  of  these  two  kings,  and  in  many 
other  ways."  But  this  is  merely  a  temporary  blaze  which 
was  quickly  put  out  and  which  was  followed  by  a  still  closer 
alliance  with  the  Germans,  bringing  in  its  train  even  greater 
misfortunes  for  Danish  nationality.  Neither  the  positive 
side  of  national  feeling,  satisfaction  over  what  is  Danish, 
nor  the  negative,  hatred  for  what  is  foreign,  crops  out  very 
noticeably  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
is  not  until  the  fifteenth  century,  when  our  kings  took  up 
the  fight  against  the  Germans  whether  the  latter  came  in 
the  likeness  of  merchants  or  of  warriors,  that  the  national 
feeling  flames  aloft.  Who  knows  but  that  it  was  the  jour- 
ney of  the  gigantic  King  Christian  I  to  Rome,  and  the 
sensation  and  renown  that  his  trip  aroused,  which  may 
have  given  rise  to  a  new  conception  of  the  story  of  Svend 
Felding  and  to  the  treatment  of  the  subject  found  in  these 
two  ballads  ? 


210        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

In  conclusion  I  shall  mention  that  the  tradition  of  Holger 
Dansk,  as  all  know,  is  not  of  national  origin,  but  that  it  found 
its  way  in  during  the  latest  period  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  that  in  any  case  the  ballad  of  "  Holger  Dansk  and 
Burmand  "  (No.  30)  cannot  be  said  to  manifest  any  marked 
patriotic  stamp.  Such  a  character,  on  the  contrary,  appears 
rather  in  "King  Didrik  and  Holger  Dansk"  (No.  17); 
but  this  ballad  also  bears  every  mark  of  youth.  Grundtvig 
regards  it  as  "  certainly  the  youngest  of  the  Didrik  ballads, 
and  in  one  respect  distinct  from  the  others,  in  that  it  is 
not  a  spontaneous,  naive  rendering  of  the  old  legend,  but 
rather  a  conscious  use  of  this  for  patriotic  ends."  Gustav 
Storm  assigns  the  ballad  to  the  sixteenth  century.1 

V.    ROMANTIC  BALLADS 

As  a  distinct  group  must  be  segregrated  those  ballads 
which  Grundtvig  has  incidentally  called  romantic  ballads. 
Since  he  has  not  described  these  ballads  in  detail,  I  shall 
attempt  to  throw  into  relief  various  features  of  their  physi- 
ognomy. The  best  known  of  these  ballads  is  "Axel  and 
Valborg"  (No.  475,  in  180-200  stanzas);  others  are 
"  Malfred  and  Magnus"  (No.  49,  89  stanzas),  "  Flores  and 
Margrete"  (No.  86,  30-40  stanzas),  "  Karl  and  Margrete" 
(No.  87,  50-70  stanzas),  "  King  Apollonius  of  Tyre " 
(No.  88,  25  stanzas),  "  The  Cloister  Robbery"  (No.  476, 94 
stanzas),  "  Terkel  Trundeson  "  (No.  480,  207  stanzas !), 
"  Oluf  Gudmundson"  (Unpub.  No.  306,  152  stanzas) 

I  shall  give  the  substance  of  one  of  these  ballads  in 
order  to  make  their  character  plain.  Earl  Iver  Ulfson, 

1  Gustav  Storm,  Sagnkredsene  om  Karl  den  Store,  p.  187. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          211 

the  standard  bearer  of  the  king,  falls  in  battle.  He  has 
intrusted  his  three  daughters  to  the  queen's  care,  but 
when  she  learns  from  a  sibyl  that  the  youngest  one, 
Malfred,  is  to  marry  Magnus  her  son,  she  sends  this 
daughter  away  on  a  ship.  The  boat  is  stranded  on  the 
shores  of  Spain,  and  the  girl  is  led  away  to  become  the 
bride  of  a  chieftain.  Before  her  wedding  she  catches 
sight  of  Magnus,  who  has  been  captured  by  pirates  and 
carried  off  to  a  foreign  country  and  forced  to  sit  at  the 
oars  and  row.  She  manages  to  have  him  ransomed. 
Magnus  kills  the  bridegroom  and  flees  with  her.  One 
day  during  their  sojourn  in  the  forest  Malfred  was  lured 
into  the  mountain  by  a  trold,  and  Magnus  journeys  home 
alone.  After  the  lapse  of  nine  years  he  engages  to  marry 
Thorelille,  but  just  then  Malfred,  who  has  slipped  away 
from  the  mountain,  comes  sailing  home  to  Norway.  The 
two  women  agree  to  share  Magnus  as  a  husband. 

As  is  very  evident,  strict  unity  of  treatment  is  abandoned. 
Of  dramatic  force  there  is  not  a  tittle ;  its  place  is  taken 
by  a  whole  string  of  adventures.  A  similar  peculiarity 
marks  the  narration  of  "  Flores  and  Margrete."  Flores 
loves  Margrete,  but  her  friends  wed  her  against  her  will 
to  Sir  Herman,  the  rich  count.  When  Flores  meets 
Margrete  in  the  church,  she  confesses  to  him  that  she 
still  loves  him.  Her  husband,  on  his  return  home,  notes 
that  she  has  been  weeping,  upon  which  he  declares  that 
after  all  he  intends  to  relinquish  her  to  Flores.  But 
Flores'  mother  has  in  the  meantime  come  to  his  rescue 
by  sending  out  a  trold  in  the  shape  of  a  hart  at  whom  the 
count  shoots  ;  the  bullet,  however,  turns  against  the  count 
himself.  Now  Margrete  is  a  widow,  and  Flores  woos  her; 


212        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

but  she  will  remain  a  widow  a  year.  Thereupon  joy  and 
mirth  prevail.  In  this  ballad  the  want  of  unity  in  the 
thought  as  well  as  in  the  treatment  is  likewise  conspicuous. 

The  length  of  the  ballads  is  remarkable  and  seems 
designed  to  supply  a  want  in  the  substance.  But  this 
feature  indicates  their  purpose ;  namely,  to  provide  enter- 
tainment for  long  evenings.  In  addition  the  ballads  seek 
to  fix  the  interest  by  new  means ;  they  concern  themselves 
with  foreign  lands ;  as,  for  instance,  Spain  (No.  49),  Tyre 
and  Naples  (No.  88) ;  they  use  foreign  personal  names 
(Flores),  and  they  are  erudite ;  as,  for  example,  the  ballad 
of  "  Malfred  and  Magnus,"  which  allows  Earl  Iver  to  say, 
as  though  it  were  modeled  on  the  classical  style  of  the 
sagas,  "  So  help  me,  Lady  Freya  and  Thor,  and  keep  my 
life  free  from  pain  "  (No.  119,  A  10).  Furthermore,  in- 
stead of  employing  good  dramatic  diction,  which  goes 
straight  to  the  point,  they  take  up  much  time  and  use 
many  words  on  matters  of  inquiry,  reflection,  and  per- 
suasion. Altogether  they  have  a  character  of  long,  spun- 
out  precision. 

In  the  next  place  the  moral  force  is  lost,  or  rather  the 
ballads  are  morally  bungled.  No.  49  unblushingly  allows 
the  narrative  to  end  with  Magnus  becoming  the  husband 
of  both  Malfred  and  Thorelille. 

It  has  come  to  pass  in  Norway's  land 
And  it  comes  to  mind  full  ready, 
Sir  Magnus  lived  for  eighteen  years 
With  two  fair  noble  ladies. 
They  lived  together  for  eighteen  years, 
With  love  and  right  good  feeling, 
And  never  mortal  man  has  heard 
A  quarrelsome  word  between  them. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          213 

To  such  bad  taste  had  the  times  fallen.  The  heroes  of 
the  ballads  dare  not  do  evil  nor  dare  they  do  good. 
Margrete  will  not  permit  Flores  to  kill  Count  Herman ; 
Count  Herman  would  gladly  resign  his  wife  to  her  lover ; 
Flores  is  to  be  rewarded  for  his  languishing  fidelity.  But 
why  does  the  ballad  lug  in  here  the  ugly  story  of  his 
mother's  magic  arts  ?  And  yet  Count  Herman  up  to  the 
last  is  so  virtuous  that  when  dying  he  bewails  the  fact 
that  he  and  his  wife  have  no  child,  —  not  because  he 
wishes  to  leave  an  avenger  behind  him,  —  but  because 
the  inheritance  will  go  to  relatives  instead  of  to  Margrete. 
It  would  be  wrong  to  say  that  these  ballads  are  immoral ; 
rather  are  they  fairly  tricked  out  with  virtue. 

A  sentimental  tone,  on  the  whole,  has  crept  into  these 
ballads.  In  his  great  sorrow  Flores  resolves :  "  I  '11  lay 
me  in  an  upper  room  and  grieve  myself  to  death."  And 
the  same  holds  good  of  "  Axel  and  Valborg  "  (No.  475), 
however  beautiful  it  may  be  otherwise.  A  master  like 
Oehlenschlager  can  annihilate  doubt  and  make  us  believe 
that  Valborg  dies  of  a  ballad.  But  a  too  bounteous  meas- 
ure of  virtue  finds  expression  in  such  stanzas  as 

1 1 8.  "  Deep  is  my  love  for  Valborg  fair, 
She  was  my  highest  bliss. 

But  never  once  did  I  come  so  near 
As  to  give  her  a  single  kiss." 

119.  She  laid  her  hand  on  the  mass-book  nigh 
And  swore  with  right  good  grace : 

"  I  was  ne'er  so  bold  as  to  lift  my  eyes 
And  look  him  full  in  the  face." 

Though  both  in  ancient  times  and  the  Middle  Ages  men 
and  women  were  found  who  conceived  love  for  one  whom 


214        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

they  never  saw,  for  the  might  of  runes  and  love  is  strong, 
yet  surely  they  dared  to  look  upon  one  another  when  they 
met.  And  it  is  precisely  because  the  lovers  themselves 
speak  of  their  great  bashfulness  that  something  of  the 
na'fve  beauty  is  lost.  On  the  one  hand,  we  can  readily 
agree  with  a  Swedish  author,  who  said  of  these  lines  : 
"  Over  all  these  stanzas  there  is  diffused  a  fine  blush  "  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  realize  that  we  have  approached 
tolerably  near  to  the  edge  of  the  truly  natural,  and  we  can 
understand  why  the  bailiff  of  Anholt,  in  Holberg's  poem 
of  "  Peder  Paars,"  reproached  his  wife  with  being  almost 
drowned  in  a  flood  of  tears  at  the  last  festival  because 
some  one  had  read  to  her  a  little  of  Axel  Thorsen.  Here 
we  feel  as  if  we  were  present  at  the  wind-up  of  the  days 
of  knighthood.  And  in  reality,  after  one  has  lingered  a 
little  over  these  ballads,  he  needs  but  to  glance  around  the 
corner  to  see  that  familiar  Spanish  knight  of  the  lanky 
figure  approaching. 

Furthermore  these  ballads  are  difficult  to  remember 
because  of  their  great  length  and  especially  because  of 
the  lack  of  continuity  in  their  plots.  Adventure  succeeds 
adventure  and  speech  follows  upon  speech.  If  ballads 
ever  required  the  services  of  professional  singers,  they 
may  well  have  done  so  in  these  instances.  Such  ballads 
show  clearly  that  they  are  at  home  among  the  romances. 
The  subject  of  the  ballad  of  "  King  Apollonius  of  Tyre  " 
(No.  88)  is  derived  from  the  romance  of  the  same  name. 
"  Malfred  and  Magnus "  (No.  49)  treats  of  a  familiar 
German  legend  of  the  Count  of  Gleichen  and  the  two 
women.  The  sentimental  ballad  of  "  Sir  Sallemand " 
(Abr.  No.  1 5  3),  who  loves  his  sister's  child,  ends  with  the 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          215 

statement  that  such  love  was  never  seen  "  since  Tristram 
and  Isald  died."  Such  a  beginning  as  opens  up  "Flores 
and  Margrete  "  (No.  86), 

i .  A  ballad  I  will  sing  to  you, 

Which  many  a  time  I  have  sung, 
All  how  the  lovely  Lady  Margret 
Was  loved  by  Sir  Flores  Bendiktson ; 

or  such  a  conclusion  as  that  which  appears  in  the  last 
stanza  of  "  Oluf  Gudmundson  "  (Unpublished  No.  306, 
152  stanzas !), 

Of  nothing  was  this  ballad  made, 

The  truth  I  tell  to  you, 

Now  must  another  begin 

Who  better  can  do, 

is  likewise  found  continually  in  the  romances.  In  his 
manuscript  collection  Grundtvig  has  written  concerning 
this  last  quoted  stanza :  "  The  last  stanza  is  noteworthy 
for  showing  us  the  use  the  ballad  was  put  to  in  social 
entertainment  when  delivered  by  a  single,  let  us  say  a 
professional,  singer.  People  of  this  class  have,  I  dare  say, 
composed  ballads  of  this  sort." 

That  such  ballads  belong  to  a  very  late  date  may  well 
be  regarded  as  certain.  The  ballad  of  "  Axel  and  Valborg  " 
(No.  475),  judged  by  its  costume  and  apparatus,  cannot, 
as  R.  Bergstrom  has  pointed  out  ("  Historiskt  Bibliothek  " 
III,  419  ff.),  be  set  farther  back  than  the  fifteenth  century. 
Finally  let  me  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  these  ballads 
commonly  lay  their  scenes  in  Norway ;  this  is  true,  for 
example,  of  "  Malfred  and  Magnus "  (No.  49),  "Axel 
and  Valborg  "  (No.  475),  and  "  The  Cloister  Robbery  " 
(No.  476),  in  which  a  son  of  a  Swedish  king  robs  the 


216        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

daughter  of  a  Norwegian  duke  in  the  Lyse  Cloister.  How 
far  "  Karl  and  Margrete  "  (No.  87),  which,  as  Grundtvig 
says,  shows  "  a  good  deal  of  similarity  "  to  the  last  named 
ballad,  has  anything  to  do  with  Danish  personages,  might 
well  be  questioned ;  it  concerns  itself  chiefly  with  Sweden. 
"  Terkel  Trundeson  "  (No.  200)  treats  of  Denmark  and 
the  king  of  Iceland. 

These  remarks  by  no  means  imply  that  these  ballads 
are  wholly  lacking  in  poetical  qualities.  A  number  of 
them,  in  addition  to  a  certain  amount  of  dilution  and  dull- 
ness, contain  good  stanzas  and  good  scenes.  Regarded  as 
a  whole,  however,  they  can  be  taken  only  as  a  medley. 

VI.  BALLAD  STYLE 

I  now  turn  to  the  various  peculiarities  of  ballad  style. 

We  commonly  understand  by  inversion  that  a  word  does 
not  occupy  the  same  place  in  a  sentence  it  would  in  ordi- 
nary speech.  In  daily  speech  we  often  shift  a  word  about 
for  the  sake  of  emphasis  and  accentuation ;  in  poetry  the 
same  causes  operate,  but  most  frequently  with  a  view  to 
rhythm  and  rime.  There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  ex- 
tent to  which  various  poets  use  inversion ;  mediocre  poets 
will  often  resort  to  it  to  secure  rime,  or  because  they  are 
misled  by  the  belief  that  this  is  the  only  means  available 
of  drawing  the  attention.  The  poet  who  is  imbued  with  a 
strong  didactic  sense  will  knit  words  together  in  weighty 
sentences.  There  is  no  question  that  those  poets  must 
be  ranked  highest  who,  with  the  simplest  means,  gain 
the  same  ends  as  those  who  must  rely  on  the  aid  of 
embellishment. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE  2 1/ 

In  this  respect,  then,  there  is  a  very  great  deal  to  be 
learned  from  the  ballads,  which  are  extremely  moderate  in 
their  use  of  inversion  as  an  aid  in  the  construction  of  the 
verse  and  in  the  securing  of  rime.  One  can  find  "son  mine," 
"  the  knights  good,"  "  maiden  fair"  (or  rather  "maiden  so 
fair"),  and  the  object  before  the  verb ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
inversions  are  not  frequent  and  in  any  case  never  violent. 
When  in  "  Ribold  and  Guldborg"  (No.  82)  we  read  : 

G  62.  Ribold  was  dead  ere  the  cock  crew, 
Guldborg  died  ere  rose  the  sun, 

we  see  that  the  last  line,  even  when  the  license  of  our  own 
time  on  this  point  is  considered,  contains  an  all  too  violent 
inversion.  But  it  happens  that  this  verse  is  found  only  in 
Peder  Syv  and  that  in  the  remaining  eighteen  forms  it  is 
wanting.  A  corresponding  verse  is  found  in  several  texts, 
dating  from  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  of 
"  Soborg  and  Adelkind  "  (No.  266),  but  the  oldest  form 
of  the  ballad  in  Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript  has  a  far 
more  unobtrusive  inversion  : 

E  2.  She  was  born  at  eventide, 

Her  mother  was  dead  ere  rose  the  sun. 

In  the  "  Kinsman's  Revenge  "  (No.  4)  we  read : 

C  44.  Hun  redte  deres  Senge  paa  Dunen  blod, 
hun  vilde  dennem  unde  Sovnen  sod. 

She  made  their  beds  of  down  smooth, 
She  wished  them  well  sleep  sweet ; 

but  only  under  Vedel's  hand  could  the  stanza  get  those 
two  inversions.  His  only  source,  as  Grundtvig  points  out, 
is  A  32  : 


218         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Stolt  Ellind  gjorde  deres  Senge  paa  Dune : 
hun  vilde  [dennem]  Sovnen  vel  unde. 

Proud  Ellind  made  their  beds  of  down, 

She  wished  that  they  might  well  sleep  sound. 

Here  we  have  a  familiar  inversion  in  the  second  line,  if 
it  is  an  inversion.  One  must  remember,  on  the  whole, 
that  many  word  orders  which  depart  from  the  popular 
usage  of  to-day  were  at  that  time  natural  and  common  fea- 
tures of  daily  speech.  Two  inversions  in  succession,  how- 
ever, the  balladists  would  regard,  I  believe,  as  inadmissible. 
A  familiar  inversion  is  to  be  found  in  "  Niels  Ebbeson  " 
(No.  1 56) : 

£15.  "  Hear  now  this,  Sir  Niels  Ebbeson, 
I  talk  with  you  too  long ; 
You  shall  either  from  Denmark  flee 
Or  I  shall  have  you  hanged." 

1 6.  "  Thieves  you  may  on  the  gallows  hang, 
Both  for  owls  and  erns ; 
But  I  shall  surely  in  Denmark  live 
All  with  my  wife  and  bairns." 

For  all  that  the  "Thieves,"  when  placed  at  the  beginning, 
rings  out  so  boldly,  yet  it  seems  to  take  one  by  surprise 
and  to  sound  so  harsh  that  the  line  almost  becomes  top- 
heavy.  The  other  three  texts  have  preserved  the  following 
version  of  the  stanza  : 

Must  I  out  of  Denmark  flee 
From  my  wife  and  bairns  so  small ; 
Unlucky  shall  you  think  it  then 
That  ever  you  me  saw ! 

Grundtvig  may  allow  therefore  that  "this  proud  stanza  (E 1 6 
above),  which,  when  looked  at  from  a  poetic  standpoint, 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          219 

is  certainly  a  gain  to  the  ballad,  in  originality  must  give 
way  before  the  stanza  found  in  the  other  three  copies." 
"  There  is  the  greatest  probability  that  it  was  added  at  the 
same  time  with  the  renovation  of  the  expression,  which  E 
in  several  places  exhibits ;  and  by  one  possessed  of  an 
undoubtedly  poetical  talent,  which  knew  how  to  patch  up 
in  masterly  fashion  the  weak  spots  in  the  memory,  which 
overtake,  however,  the  expression  more  frequently  than 
the  contents."  Nevertheless,  Grundtvig  has  included  this 
stanza  in  his  popular  edition  of  1867.  In  A  84,  85  of 
the  same  ballad  appears  "sige  Dronning  Tiding  slig"  (tell 
the  queen  tidings  such),  likewise  a  violent  inversion ; 
Vedel  has  more  correctly  :  "  Dronningen  Tidende  sige  " 
(the  queen  tidings  tell) ;  cf.  Ab  84  :  "  sige  Dronningen 
sligt  Men  "  (tell  the  queen  such  hurt). 

In  many  other  places  we  could  point  out  inversions  that 
have  originated  in  later  times ;  as,  for  instance,  in  C  9 
of  "  Sir  Ebbe's  Daughter  "  (No.  194) :  "  Up  then  waked 
the  maidens  shrewd."  This  is  a  labored  text  with  rime 
in  all  four  lines ;  the  older  forms  omit  this  line. 

Inversion  is  found  by  far  most  frequently  in  the  re- 
frains ;  I  cite  the  following  examples : 

No.   130.  Selv  lader  him  sig  vel. 

No.  142.  Og  saar  er  min  Haand  af  den  Brynje. 

No.  167.  Saa  glad  rider  Erik  Stygge  imod  sin  Jomfru. 

No.  1 74.  Til  Meissen  kom  den  Froken  med  stor  y£re. 

No.  195.  Deraf  al  vor  Sorg  matte  sig  vel  fordrive. 

No.   130.  So  behaves  she  well. 
No.  142.  And  sore  is  my  hand  on  the  breastplate. 
No.  167.  So  gladly  rides  Erik  Stygge  to  his  truelove. 
No.  1 74.  To  Meissen  comes  the  lady  with  great  honor. 
No.  195.  Thereby  all  our  sorrow  must  be  driven  away. 


220        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

As  one  will  notice,  there  is  not  a  single  inversion  here 
which  could  not  be  found  in  an  ordinary  prose  text  of  the 
same  period. 

The  connection  between  sentences  is  marked  by  a  great 
simplicity.  Parallel  structure  is  the  general  favorite ;  all 
involved  constructions  are  avoided.  The  apodosis  follows 
in  the  next  verse-line ;  in  the  case  of  a  four-line  stanza 
the  first  two  lines  readily  constitute  an  entity,  and  seldom 
or  never  do  we  find  the  third  line  knit  grammatically 
with  the  second.  At  as  late  a  period  as  after  "  Sir  Tyge 
Krabbe's  Fight  in  Skaane  in  1510"  (No.  171)  one 
could  still  write : 

C  21.  Sir  Tyge  orders  the  spies  to  go  out, 
They  should  in  truth  discover 
What  the  enemy  had  in  mind  to  do, 
And  what  way  they  meant  to  manoeuvre ; 

the  older  forms,  however,  have  no  such  ponderously  con- 
structed stanza,  nor  any  like  it.  "  It  runs  contrary  to  good, 
old  ballad  style  to  have  an  antecedent  in  one  verse  and  an 
apodosis  in  another,"  says  Grundtvig  in  his  introduction 
to  No.  220  (A,  stanzas  287-288).  Nevertheless  in  all 
manuscripts  of  "  The  Buried  Mother  "  (No.  89)  are  to  be 
found  the  verses : 

1 6.  She 's  ta'en  her  way  to  the  angel's  home, 
She  begged  of  Jesus  Christ  a  boon, 

1 7.  That  she  might  to  earth  return 

And  speak  again  with  her  little  bairns ; 

but  evidently  the  first  line  in  stanza  17  should  be 
amended  to : 

She  begged  she  might  to  earth  return. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          221 

In  his  popular  edition  of  the  ballads  (1882)  Grundtvig  also 
has  made  this  change  in  the  line. 

On  the  whole,  repetition  aids  in  avoiding  any  heavy  or 
involved  construction.  Simplicity  in  sentence  construction 
is  a  striking  feature  in  the  ballads  and  sets  them  apart  from 
the  style  of  to-day.  They  may  indeed  vary  widely  in  this 
respect  from  the  style  of  the  romances.  And  such  con- 
structions as  are  found  in  the  "  Nibelungenlied  "  would  be 
wholly  impossible  to  a  ballad  poet.  One  need  but  glance 
at  the  first  stanza  of  that  famous  poem  to  see  the  difference : 

Uns  ist  in  alten  maeren 

wunders  vil  geseit 

von  helden  lobebaeren, 

von  grQszer  kuonheit, 

von  frouden  hSchgeziten, 

von  weinen  und  von  klagen, 

von  kiiener  recken  striten 

muget  ir  nu  wunder  hoeren  sagen. 

As  on  many  other  occasions,  counterfeit  stanzas  are  in- 
structive also  in  the  matter  of  sentence  formation. 

No.  4,  C  22.  She  placed  beneath  their  side 

Their  knife  upon  which  they  relied. 

This  is  a  stanza  of  Vedel's  ;  the  old  text  runs  : 

B  1 7.  She  placed  beneath  their  side 
Their  sword  and  a  bared  knife. 

"  Hagbard  and  Signe  "  (No.  20)  has  the  following  stanza 

in  form  A  : 

10.  Hear  me  now,  proud  Signild, 
To  me  you  will  allow  it : 
That  I  may  handiwork  learn  from  you, 
So  few  are  they  that  know  it. 


222        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Not  one  of  the  other  seven  versions,  which  are  found  in 
copies  equally  old,  has  in  the  corresponding  stanza  so  heavy 
a  construction.  In  its  place  appears,  for  example  : 

C  13.  Here  you  sit,  proud  Signild, 
You  spin  the  silken  twill ; 
Hafbard,  the  king's  son,  has  sent  me  to  you, 
If  me  you  would  teach  like  skill. 

Karen  Brahe's  Folio  Manuscript  contains  the  following 

stanza : 

No.  30,  A  1 8.  He  swore  by  God  on  high, 

That  he  his  word  would  hold, 

If  she  could  hand  to  him  the  man 

Would  dare  to  strive  with  Burmand  so  bold. 

The  other  two  texts  have  no  stanza  answering  to  this  ;  and 
Grundtvig  in  his  introduction  to  this  ballad  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  that  manuscript  "  expands  and  revises  the 
traditional  texts  "  (IV,  782). 

A  striking  parallelism  occurs  in  a  stanza  of  "  Magnus 
Algotson"  (No.  181,  B  8,  E  17) : 

Sharp  are  their  swords 
And  bent  are  their  bows ; 
Wrathful  are  they  in  mind, 
And  hard  are  they  in  mood. 

This  stanza,  which  from  a  modern  point  of  view  would  be 
regarded  as  excellent,  is  found  in  a  manuscript  of  1590 
and  in  one  of  1610 ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  see  what  the 
stanza  is  like  in  other  texts  : 

A  7  (1550)  Here  stay  three  hundred  armed  men 
In  front  of  our  courtyard ; 
Without  they  all  in  silk  are  clad, 
Within  in  steel  so  hard. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          223 

C  8  (1650)  Above  they  wear  the  silk, 
Beneath  the  cuirass  blue ; 
Wrathful  are  they  in  mind, 
And  rough  are  they  in  mood. 

D  9  (1625)  Here  stay  three  hundred  brave  lordlings, 
All  blue  as  any  dove ; 
The  horse  he  is  in  silk  bedecked, 
The  lord  he  rides  above. 

This  fourfold  parallelism  is  found  therefore  in  only  one 
form,  and  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  well  certified. 

And  very  seldom  is  antithesis  used.  Professor  Peter 
Hansen  has  quoted  the  following  stanza  from  the  ballad 
of  the  "Cloister-Maiden"  ("Danish  Heroic  Ballads," 
1867,  No.  20)  as  an  example  of  this  artifice: 

Now  sits  the  swain  in  the  bower  aloft, 
He  plays  with  the  silver  so  white ; 
So  little  heed  the  swain  pays  to  me, 
So  grievous  is  my  plight. 

Now  sits  the  swain  in  the  bower  aloft, 
He  plays  with  the  gold  so  red ; 
So  little  the  swain  now  thinks  of  me, 
So  grievous  is  my  dread. 

But  nothing  definite  may  be  gathered  from  this  ballad ; 
it  is,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  scarcely  older  than  the  six- 
teenth century.  Professor  Peter  Hansen  cites  further  the 
words  between  Agnete  and  the  Merman  (in  the  ballad  of 
that  name,  No.  38) : 

"  But  when  you  to  the  church  are  bound, 
You  must  not  wear  the  red  gold  on  your  gown. 

"  And  when  you  to  the  churchyard  repair, 
You  must  not  unbind  your  fair  yellow  hair. 


224        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

"  And  when  you  within  the  church  door  step, 
You  must  not  smile  under  your  scarlet  cape. 

"  And  when  you  walk  up  through  the  aisle, 
You  must  not  sit  by  your  mother  the  while. 

"  And  when  the  priest  names  Him  most  dread, 
You  must  not  then  bow  down  your  head." 

And  when  she  to  the  church  was  bound, 
She  wore  the  red  gold  on  her  gown. 

And  when  she  to  the  churchyard  repaired, 
Agnete  unbound  her  fair  yellow  hair. 

And  when  she  within  the  church  door  stepped, 
Agnete  she  smiled  under  her  scarlet  cape. 

And  when  she  walked  up  through  the  aisle, 
Agnete  sat  by  her  mother  the  while. 

And  when  the  priest  named  Him  most  dread, 
She  then  bowed  down  her  head. 

Here  we  have  parallelism  carried  out  in  full,  together 
with  what  in  the  truest  sense  can  be  called  antithesis  ;  and 
herein  we  are  again  brought  face  to  face  with  the  purely 
artistic.  We  now  stand  on  the  exact  border  line  of  the  rigid 
and  the  uniform,  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  Learned 
Period  ;  whereas  our  ballads  of  the  Middle  Ages  speak  in 
the  fashion  of  children,  or  rather  as  a  mother  speaks  to 
her  child.  The  proof  that  "  Agnete  and  the  Merman  " 
should  be  dated  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  when  its  eccen- 
tric form  and  its  late  appearance  certainly  relegate  it 
to  the  eighteenth  century,  has  meanwhile  not  yet  been 
brought  forward,  and  he  who  is  to  adduce  this  will  have 
his  work  cut  out  for  him.  Until  that  has  been  done,  we 
ought  to  leave  this  ballad  out  of  consideration  when  the 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          225 

question  deals  with  the  qualities  peculiar  to  the  ballads 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

It  will  be  evident  from  the  foregoing  discussion  that  the 
style  of  our  ballads  forms  a  complete  contrast  to  that  of 
our  proverbs.  In  the  latter  we  frequently  meet  with  an- 
tithesis ("Speech  is  silver,  silence  is  golden";  "Penny- 
wise  and  pound-foolish";  "  It  is  sweet  to  get  and  bitter  to 
pay ")  and  with  inversion  ("  To  every  cow  belongs  her 
calf  "  ;  "  Little  is  the  harm  silence  does  ").  Proverbs  also 
attract  alliteration  ("  Look  before  you  leap  "  ;  "  Plunder 
Peter  and  pay  Paul "  ;  "  Cat  will  after  kind  "),  and  they 
affect  disjointed  speech  ("  A  bad  egg,  a  bad  bird  " ;  "  Out 
of  sight,  out  of  mind";  "bad  beginning,  bad  ending"). 
When  therefore  one  asserts  that  many  old  proverbs  lie  hid- 
den in  the  popular  ballads,  it  seems  to  me  that  he  misun- 
derstands the  language  in  which  they  are  usually  couched, 
for  in  the  ballad  there  is  found  absolutely  nothing  of  the 
sententiousness,  the  weighty  thought,  and  the  condensed 
expression  that  everywhere  prevail  in  the  proverb. 

Perhaps  one  will  be  inclined  to  say  that  in  "  Marsk  Stig" 
(No.  145)  are  to  be  heard  not  a  few  proverbs  and  senten- 
tious utterances.  Especially  does  this  apply  to  the  bold 
conversation  between  the  Marshal  and  King  Erik : 

A  42.  Then  answered  young  Sir  Marsti, 
He  was  sorrowful  enow : 
"  It  is  a  well-known  adage, 
Scorn  and  skaith  together  go." 

47.  "  Marsti,  thou  dost  not  ride  so  hard 

But  well  I  can  ward  myself  against  thee ; 
If  thou  wilt  naught  of  my  friendship  have, 
Then  thou  must  let  it  be." 


226        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

48.  "  No,  I  do  not  ride  so  hard, 
Thy  might  is  more  than  mine ; 
Hast  thou  never  heard  it  said  before : 
That  strength  takes  the  road  before  might? 

49.  "  No,  I  do  not  ride  so  hard, 

I  am  not  so  stubborn  of  mind ; 
One  finds  very  often  a  greyhound 
Puts  to  flight  both  hart  and  hind. 

50.  "  Call  this  well  to  mind, 
I  have  thee  here  defied ! 

It  happens  right  often  a  little  hump 
Will  upset  a  full  great  load." 

All  of  this  sounds  splendid  enough ;  yet  I  must  confess 
that  the  other  texts  display  more  effectively  the  haughty 
spirit  of  Marsk  Stig.  That  wealth  of  proverbs,  which 
Marsk  Stig  even  quotes  as  proverbs,  makes  him  in  my 
eyes  look  book-learned.  It  must  be  remembered  that  text 
A,  in  which  these  stanzas  are  found,  has  been  freely  worked 
over  in  a  late  period,  and  that  additions  or  expansions, 
which  propose  a  little  too  much  of  what  is  good,  have  cer- 
tainly found  a  place  here.  In  any  case  the  older  forms 
have  nothing  like  these  proverbs. 

Vedel  has  allowed  "The  Death  of  Alf  the  Lesser" 
(No.  151)  to  conclude  with  a  long  soliloquy  in  which  Alf 
confesses  that  he  has  been  a  horrible  sinner,  to  the  terror 
and  warning  of  everybody.  There  occurs  also  this  stanza  : 

19.  I  have  robbed  and  stolen  without  any  stint 
Many  long  days  and  years ; 
What  one  with  sin  and  wrong  has  gotten 
With  shame  and  sorrow  disappears. 

But  Vedel  must  assume  the  responsibility  of  this. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          227 

At  any  rate  a  distinction  must  be  made  between  two 
things.  One  is  that  current  proverbs  are  used  in  direct 
discourse,  and  the  other  that  the  speaker  utters  the  words 
which  the  event  calls  forth  as  if  they  were  proverbial  say- 
ings. This  is  true,  as  we  have  seen,  of  Marsk  Stig.  And 
when  Niels  Ebbeson  says  : 

Never  did  you  see  me  so  afraid 
That  I  did  not  dare  to  shiver, 

it  is  indeed  possible  that  he  is  speaking  a  line  that  is 
original  with  the  ballad  poet ;  but  it  has  been  cited  already 
in  the  collection  of  proverbs  by  Peder  Laale.  In  the  same 
ballad  Niels  says : 

The  count  offered  me  two  terms, 
And  neither  of  them  was  good ; 

which  is  an  old  expression  occurring  also  in  the  sagas 
(cf.  No.  300,  14  :  "  There  are  two  choices  and  neither  is 
good  ").  But  wholly  different  from  this  is  the  case  where 
the  poet  strives  on  his  own  account  to  muster  his  im- 
pressions, his  reflections,  or  his  doctrines  in  sentences 
weighted  with  thought.  Such  a  manner  does  not  belong 
to  the  ballad. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  illuminating  perhaps  to  consider 
a  stanza  which  is  even  yet  to-day  cited  as  though  it  were 
really  a  glorious  relic  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  the  con- 
cluding stanza  of  "Niels  Ebbeson"  (No.  156,  F  83),  in 
the  form  which  Anders  Vedel  has  communicated  : 

Christ  prosper  every  good  Danish  man, 

Who  with  both  mouth  and  hand, 

Without  jesting  and  scoffing,  with  heart  and  soul, 

Will  serve  his  fatherland. 


228         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

This  stanza  really  deserves  to  be  made  the  object  of  study, 
since  it  is  a  richly  significant  example  of  how  stanzas  were 
not  constructed  and  spoken  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the 
very  first  line  our  attention  is  called  to  a  wish  or  prayer, 
which,  as  has  been  pointed  out  above,  never  or  seldom 
occurs  in  the  ballads.  In  the  second  and  third  lines  we 
meet  with  three  parallelisms  as  well  as  with  a  relative  sen- 
tence whose  beginning  and  subject  appear  in  the  second 
line  and  whose  conclusion  and  verb  in  the  fourth.  Finally, 
as  has  been  shown,  "  fatherland "  is  a  conception  the 
ballads  do  not  mention  or  treat  of. 

VII.  DRAMATIC  STRUCTURE 

That  which  is  so  often  wonderfully  contrived  in  the 
ballads  is  the  introduction.  The  first  stanza  frequently 
leads  us  straight  into  the  situation,  and  every  line  of  the 
stanza  carries  us  a  step  farther  into  the  story.  Let  me  call 
attention,  for  instance,  to  the  beginning  of  "Young 
Sveidal  "  (No.  70) : 

It  was  the  young  Sveidal 

Was  playing  at  the  ball ; 

The  ball  bounced  into  the  maiden's  bower, 

It  made  his  color  fall. 

The  ball  bounced  into  the  maiden's  lap, 
And  the  youth  went  in  to  get  it ; 
Ere  he  out  of  that  bower  came, 
His  heart  with  sorrow  was  fretted. 

"  Hear  thou,  young  Sveidal, 
Why  drivest  thou  the  ball  to  me  ? 
There  sits  a  maiden  in  a  foreign  land, 
She  longs  sorely  after  thee." 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          229 

With  this  Sveidal's  work  is  mapped  out  for  him,  and  he 
must  seek  out  this  maid  who  has  been  bound  to  him  by 
runes.  In  the  same  manner  the  task  and  the  subject  are 
set  forth  in  "  Karl  and  Margrete  "  (No.  87). 

Can  one  call  to  mind  a  more  compact  narrative  than 
that  with  which  "  The  Betrothed  in  the  Grave  "  (No.  90) 
opens : 

It  was  the  knight  Sir  Aage, 

He  rides  so  far  away , 

He  wooed  the  maiden  Elselille, 

She  was  so  fair  a  may. 

He  wooed  the  maiden  Elselille, 

All  with  stores  of  gold. 

On  the  Monday  after 

He  lay  in  the  black,  black  mould. 

It  was  the  maiden  Elselille, 
She  had  grief  untold ; 
That  heard  Sir  Aage 
Under  the  black,  black  mould. 

Modern  poets  by  the  hundreds  might  well  envy  the  singer 
of  those  vanished  days  the  ability  to  lead  us  with  such 
magical  power  and  in  so  few  seconds  into  the  midst  of  his 
world  of  ideas,  foreign  though  it  may  be ;  and  in  such  a 
manner  that  we  believe  ourselves  to  have  been  conducted 
thither  step  by  step,  and  are  made  to  feel  at  home. 

An  introduction  of  another  kind  is  mentioned  above  in 
which  the  singer  evokes  a  universal  mood,  and  in  a  few 
chords  brings  the  listeners  within  his  realm  of  feeling  and 
action  upon  which  the  text  of  the  ballad  proper  is  built. 
In  glaring  contrast  with  these  openings  are  the  later  "I 
shall  sing  to  you  a  ballad  "  of  the  street  ballads. 


230        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

The  truly  dramatic  narrative  does  not  relate  all  that 
happens.  The  account  does  not  seek  to  be  absolutely  com- 
plete ;  on  the  contrary,  it  strives  to  make  everything  stand 
out  realistically  and  well  defined.  All  intermediate  stages 
are  therefore  leaped  over,  and  only  the  most  prominent  are 
related.  By  this  means  the  ballad  attains  to  real  energy 
and  impressive  strength.  What  a  character  thinks  or 
decides  upon  is  told  as  briefly  as  possible ;  it  is  by  their 
actions  that  we  learn  to  know  the  hero  and  the  knight,  their 
dispositions  and  peculiarities.  The  ballads  are  only  now 
and  then  descriptive.  The  beauty  of  the  maiden  or  of  the 
sweetheart  is  never  detailed  to  us ;  it  is  mentioned  in 
general  terms,  and  we  believe  in  it  because  we  hear  how 
widely  through  the  land  its  fame  is  spread,  how  many 
wooers  it  has  lured,  and  how  heavy  of  heart  are  the  re- 
jected lovers.  A  man's  strength  is  vividly  presented  to  us 
by  his  deeds ;  but  his  appearance  is  not  described  except 
again  in  the  most  general  way.  And  only  in  the  later  bal- 
lads do  we  get  so  detailed  a  picture  of  his  costume  as  those 
which  are  found  in  the  rimed  romances.  In  the  words  of 
a  German  writer,  "With  the  Aventiure  [Romances]  appear 
the  inane  sketches  of  horse,  saddles,  bridles,  tents,  rugs, 
beds,  cloaks,  equipments,  —  which  are  so  costly  because 
they  cost  nothing."  1 

All  pauses  in  the  action  are  avoided.  Scene  is  knitted 
to  scene,  and  transitions  are  prepared  for  us,  as  when,  for 
instance,  it  is  related  how  "  the  watcher  stands  upon  the 
wall "  and  sees  what  is  coming.  In  the  same  manner  the 
eye  is  led  from  scene  to  scene  in  the  sketch  of  the  Bayeux 

1  Godecke,  Grundrisz  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Dichtung, 
2d  ed.,  I,  75. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          231 

Tapestry.1  The  common  use  of  the  present  tense  of  the 
verb,  of  the  narrative  in  the  present,  conjures  up  the  pic- 
ture more  clearly.  Then  the  rise  in  the  narrative  awakens 
attention  :  "  They  were  there  in  a  month,  they  were  there 
in  three."  When  an  offer  is  made,  when  an  oath  is  sworn, 
there  comes  after  several  lesser  statements,  as  a  conclu- 
sion, the  highest  and  most  solemn  one.  When  wealth  is 
depicted,  the  possessions  are  not  enumerated  coordinately, 
but  in  a  series  from  the  less  to  the  greater,  from  the 
commonplace  to  the  remarkable.  Yet  withal,  the  repose 
essential  to  the  picture  is  not  wanting.  The  repetition 
often  impresses  the  picture  more  deeply  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  audience.2  Several  verse-lines  recur  intention- 
ally, as  in  such  cases  when  a  messenger  is  charged  with 
his  duties  and  is  made  to  repeat  his  tidings  in  the  same 
words. 

Speeches,  questions  and  answers  constitute  a  main 
ingredient  of  the  ballad.  Moreover  it  is  noteworthy  that 
time  after  time  —  in  fact,  in  the  majority  of  instances  — 
dialogue  is  not  assigned.  As  a  rule  we  find  no  such  intro- 
ductory line  as  "he  then  replied,"  etc.  "The  Dangerous 
Maiden  "  (No.  184)  relates  the  doings  of  the  chief  person- 
ages and  intermingles  with  these  a  long  series  of  speeches 
without  saying  once  who  is  speaking,  and  yet  without 
leaving  us  in  any  doubt  concerning  the  speaker.  This  is  true 
to  a  great  extent  of  the  dialogue  of  "  Hagbard  and  Signe  " 
(No.  20).  In  the  old  Norse  poetry  we  run  across  the  same 
thing ;  for  example,  the  "  Alvi'ssmal "  consists  wholly  of 
dialogue  between  the  dwarf  Alvis  and  Thor. 

1  Johannes  Steenstrup,  Bayeux-Tapetet,  p.  44. 
3  N.  M.  Petersen,  Literaturhistorie,  zd  ed.,  I,  146. 


232         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

One  might  ask  whether  a  number  of  the  actors  do  not 
reappear  with  the  same  general  traits  in  various  ballads. 
This  holds  good,  as  a  matter  of  course,  with  the  well-known 
mythical  heroes  and  heroines  as  well  as  of  individual  his- 
torical personages.  Queen  Sophie  of  the  ballad  world  is 
sketched  in  the  same  outline  in  a  number  of  ballads.  This 
is  not  the  case,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  knights  and 
their  ladies.  No  specific  traits  of  character  are  bound  up 
with  Sir  Iver  or  Sir  Oluf 1  and  scarcely  with  Kirstine  or 
Margrete.  Only  thus  much  is  certain  :  the  first  is  always 
called  "  little  "  Kirsten  (and  not  "  proud  "),  while  Mar- 
grete, Ingeborg,  and  Else  are  usually  named  "  proud " 
Mettelil,  Ingerlil,  Elselil,  etc. 

VIII.  SIMPLICITY 

Schoolmaster  T.  Kristensen  mentions  in  one  place2 
"  the  wonderful  execution  and  expression  with  which  an 
old  woman  can  sing  a  ballad.  For  this  is  demanded  a  cer- 
tain simplicity  and  a  perfect  ignorance  of  the  great  world 

1  Lave  comes  most  readily  to  mind.  Lave  is,  for  example,  violent. 
Lave  Stison  flogs  his  betrayed  (or  innocent)  wife  to  death  with  a  bridle 
(No.  259).  But  he  is  also  unfortunate.  When  Lave  Stison  would  use 
violence  toward  Proud  Margrete,  she  slays  him  with  her  knife  (No.  196). 
When  Lave  Pedersdn  breaks  into  the  bower  of  the  maiden  Ludselille  at 
nighttime,  her  brother  cuts  off  one  of  his  hands  and  he  rides  shamed 
away  (No.  199).  Little  Kirsten  loves  Sir  Peter,  whom  she  may  not  have, 
and  when  she  is  to  be  forced  into  marriage  with  Sir  Lave  she  dies  of 
sorrow  (Abr.  No.  135).  Sir  Lave  holds  a  wedding,  but  Sir  Jon  locks  the 
door  and  sleeps  with  the  bride ;  Lave  complains  to  the  king  and  a 
duel  is  fought,  in  which  Jon  comes  out  victorious  (No.  390).  Sir  Lave 
seduces  Eline  at  the  night-watch  party,  but  he  is  faithful  and  marries 
her  (No.  282).  In  No.  122  Sir  Lave  must  marry  Tovelille,  the  king's 
concubine.  a  "  Jydske  Folkeminder,"  I,  viii. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          233 

and  its  motley  press  of  business,  a  life  with  few  thoughts 
and  yet  with  a  certain  degree  of  poetry."  But  what  is  thus 
exacted  of  the  singer  must  also  be  found  in  the  poems 
themselves,  and  only  through  these  means  can  they  con- 
tinue to  live  and  be  preserved  in  the  lower  stratum.  Thus 
it  levels  for  itself  a  new  road  and  appears  again  in  the  lit- 
erary cultured  circle,  where  it  will  perhaps  become  invested 
with  deeper  significance. 

It  is  therefore  this  incomparable  singleness  and  simplic- 
ity that  is  the  most  unique  quality  of  the  ballad.  It  appears 
to  a  like  degree  in  the  body  and  soul  of  the  ballad,  in  the 
antecedents  out  of  which  the  ballad  grew,  in  the  means 
used  to  give  a  stamp  to  its  style  and  tone,  and  in  the  object 
and  end  which  the  ballad  has  in  sight.  The  language  is 
simple  and  commonplace,  like  that  of  our  daily  talk,  and 
the  vocabulary  used  is  that  which  is  found  in  the  mouth  of 
the  ordinary  man ;  and  only  few  expressions  current  in  a 
higher  world,  such  as  meet  one  in  all  other  poetry,  occur. 
And  the  ballads  are  marvelously  temperate  in  the  use  of 
imagery.  The  lass  that  is  besung  can  shine  like  a  star,  she 
is  called  the  rose,  the  lily  maid,  or  the  mirror  of  all  women  ; 
but  beyond  such  expressions  the  ballad  seldom  goes. 

Here  again  comes  to  light  the  vast  distance  separating 
the  poetry  of  antiquity  from  the  ballads  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  For  nothing  could  be  farther  removed  from  the 
former  than  the  practice  of  calling  a  thing  by  its  right 
name ;  rather  it  uses  a  conventional  name  which  is  to  be 
translated  into  its  real  worth.  The  ballads  never  speak  of 
"sea-trees"  when  they  mean  ships,  nor  of  "army-wasters" 
when  they  mean  heroes.  A  kenning  appears  in  only  one 
ballad,  that  of  "  Ironwolf  "  (No.  10) : 


234         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

1 5.  Then  answered  the  king  of  Blideuinder, 
He  spoke  as  a  man  may  dare : 

"  I  '11  meet  in  the  morn  in  the  chieftains'  storm  (Hbvdingens  Storm) 
If  me  a  horse  can  bear." 

Here  the  Norse  and  Faroese  versions  have  Odderstoi-m, 
Oddabragd,  a  kenning  for  battle,  which  must  also  be 
the  meaning  of  Hbvdingens  Storm}-  This  is  such  a 
glaring  exception  in  a  Danish  ballad  that  it  arouses  all 
sorts  of  conjectures  over  the  authorship  of  the  ballad  and 
its  wanderings  before  it  was  written  down.  In  the  Faroese 
and  Icelandic  ballads  kennings  can  be  pointed  out  readily 
enough. 

Everything  that  is  of  the  nature  of  learning  and  is  ex- 
traneous to  the  ballad  is  wanting.  Every  one  can  listen 
to  them  and  enjoy  them  without  any  prerequisite  knowl- 
edge or  culture.  They  contain  no  mythological,  Biblical, 
or  historical  references.  The  action  takes  place  in  Den- 
mark or  everywhere.  The  king  of  England,  the  king  of 
Iceland,  and  the  king  of  the  Wends,  all  possess  an  equally 
high  degree  of  poetical  reality ;  they  only  want  genuine 
historical  and  geographical  ground  to  stand  upon.  Any 
one  who  has  had  an  interest  in  human  conduct  and  feel- 
ings can  find  pleasure  in  these  ballads. 

Abstractions  or  persons  who  impersonate  abstractions 
never,  as  has  been  stated  before,  appear  in  the  ballads. 
The  wicked  stepmother  who  calumniates,  the  cunning 
handmaiden  who  effects  dissension,  the  faithless  groom 
who  betrays  his  master,  are  all  admitted  to  the  ballads 
and  there  they  receive  their  punishment ;  but  we  learn, 

1  Grundtvig,  Danmarks  Gamle  Folkeviser,  I,  145  ;  III,  783  ;  IV,  687, 
691,  697,  701. 


SUBJECT  MATTER  AND  PURPOSE          235 

however,  their  names,  where  they  live,  and  whom  they  serve. 
They  are  real  people,  not  Lady  Invidia  in  her  ethereal 
role ;  not,  as  in  school  comedies,  the  ghosts  of  Fallacia  or 
of  Perfidia.  Directly  opposed  to  this  is  the  poetic  product 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  the  truly  lyrical  poetry  of  that 
age  calumny  or  backbiting  lurks  everywhere.  The  despond- 
ent tone  which  crops  out  in  much  of  the  poetry  of  that 
time  harmonizes  well  with  the  daily  use  of  the  "  backbiter." 
If  one  will  turn  to  the  ballad  book  of  the  Swede,  Harald 
Oluffson,  of  1572  (edited  by  A.  Noreen  and  H.  Schiick), 
he  will  find  in  the  ballads  the  "  backbiter "  (Klafferen) 
(cf.  No.  i,  "Ah,  Backbiter,  how  wonderful  you  are,"  etc.; 
No.  3,  "  God  keep  me  from  the  backbiter" ;  Nos.  5, 8,  "The 
backbiters  are  so  many";  Nos.  18,  22,  23,  25,  29,  37,  41). 
One  might  think  that  the  taste  of  the  individual  collector 
was  responsible  for  this  choice,  but  the  same  contents  are 
found  in  Nils  Larson's  book ;  and  from  Broms  Gyllen- 
mar's  "Ballad  Book,"  of  about  1620,  can  be  cited  the  songs 
Nos.  5,  7,  9,  10,  13,  27,  34,  36,  43,  47,  48,  50,  51,  52, 
55,  etc.  In  short,  it  had  become  a  mania;  wherever  one 
sits,  stands,  or  walks,  he  meets  the  "backbiter,"  even  "at 
night,  when  I  should  rest  at  peace,  I  find  myself  thinking 
on  faith  and  law."  But  that  agrees  well  with  the  entire 
suspicious,  pessimistic  tone  inherent  in  indolence  which 
is  struck  in  these  songs,  whose  favorite  subjects  are  the 
world,  wickedness,  friendship's  unreliability,  woman's  faith- 
lessness, and  the  backbiter's  duplicity  : 

Yea,  a  false  tongue, 
It  is  most  like  a  basilisk ; 
Who  catches  it  in  a  net, 
Catches  a  baneful  fish. 


236        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

We  shall  find  the  "backbiter"  admitted  into  various  stanzas 
of  Danish  ballads  which  have  been  stitched  on  in  this 
period  ;  examples  have  been  given  above  (see  pp.  60,  117, 
199). 

But  now  along  with  all  this  simplicity  is  not  this  poetry 
also  monotonous  and  wearisome  ?  Certainly  the  number 
of  our  popular  ballads  is  remarkably  large,  but  in  appear- 
ance they  resemble  each  other  like  relatives,  and  in  their 
character  and  make-up  there  exists  much  uniformity ; 
furthermore  this  poetry  is  able  to  represent  only  one  side 
of  a  folk's  poetic  field  of  activity.  As  for  the  rest,  what  a 
German  author  has  said  of  the  minnesongs  can  be  fittingly 
applied  to  our  popular  ballads  :  "  There  have  been  many 
complaints  of  their  monotony,  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
charge  cannot  be  well  denied.  Nevertheless,  the  ear  that 
listens  more  closely  will  find  an  endlessly  stirring  life 
within  this  uniformity.  It  affects  us  in  the  same  way  as 
when  we  enter  a  forest,  and  our  ears  ring  with  the  voices 
from  innumerable  feathered  throats.  At  first  we  think  we 
hear  only  a  hubbub  of  sounds,  in  which  nothing  can  be 
distinguished  ;  but  a  keener  regard  makes  us  aware  of  the 
individual  emerging  from  the  general.  Yonder,  skillfully 
interlaced  runs  and  trills,  here  a  capricious  chirping ; 
yonder  again  complaining  tones  drawn  from  the  depths  of 
the  heart,  here  a  tender  seductive  coaxing ;  suddenly  in 
the  midst  of  all  this  calling  tone,  like  an  audible  conjura- 
tion, an  unending  series  of  tone  colors  and  intervals."1 

1  Roquette,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Literatur,  I,  130. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SOME  REMARKS  ON  HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN 
BALLAD  POETRY1 

The  question  has  recently  been  overhauled,  How  far 
may  a  poet,  in  treating  of  historical  facts  and  personages, 
depart  from  hard  and  fast  reality,  such  as  is  familiar  to 
every  one  ?  At  the  same  time  attention  has  been  directed 
not  only  to  the  question,  How  free  did  the  poets  in  olden 
times  feel  themselves  to  be  when  face  to  face  with  con- 
temporary facts  ?  but  also  to  the  matter  of  the  narratives  in 
our  historical  ballads. 

A.  D.  Jorgensen  would  maintain  that  they  who  com- 
posed the  ballads  were  very  probably  licensed  to  make 
very  free  use  of  contemporary  facts,  even  to  the  extent  of 
departing  widely  from  what  had  actually  taken  place,  not- 
withstanding that  they  had  heard  of  or  had  witnessed  the 
deeds  themselves,  and  that  the  real  facts  were  known  to 
all.  Professor  Karl  Erslev  has  indorsed  Jorgensen's  view 
by  embodying  it  as  the  leading  proposition  in  his  book,— 
a  work  replete  with  interest,  —  on  the  criticism  of  histori- 
cal sources.  It  will  perhaps  be  worth  our  while  to  examine 
more  narrowly  the  correctness  of  Jorgensen's  theory. 

Professor  Erslev  is  right  in  his  thesis  that  the  use  of 
many  details  awakens  credence  in  an  historical  narrative, 
even  though  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  verify  them ;  but 

1  Reprint  from  Historisk  Tidsskrift,  8th  Series,  1907,  I. 
237 


238         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

he  adds  that  this  does  not  hold  true  of  the  use  of  such 
details  as,  for  example,  the  introduction  of  dialogue,  in 
such  artistic  forms  of  historical  writings  as  the  classics 
and  the  sagas.  "  Still  less  does  it  hold  true  of  details  in 
a  poetical  composition ;  on  the  whole,  the  poet  stands 
from  the  start  far  more  emancipated  from  the  shackles  of 
his  material  than  does,  as  a  rule,  the  narrator  in  prose." l 
This  is  absolutely  true  of  the  poet  who  sings  of  the  more 
distant  past;  but  Professor  Erslev  may  also  have  had  in 
mind  poems  on  contemporary  events.  This  is  evident 
from  his  next  remark :  "  While  formerly,  with  respect  to 
our  historical  ballads,  one  laid  down  only  two  possibilities, 
namely,  the  historically  correct,  hence  contemporary ;  the 
historically  incorrect,  hence  later,  A.  D.  Jorgensen  has 
been  the  first  to  bring  home  to  us  the  truth  that  a  ballad 
poet,  even  though  contemporaneous  with  his  events,  could 
subject  his  material  to  so  free  a  treatment  that  the  result 
would  be  far  from  historical  reality.  Examples  of  this  are 
found  in  the  ballads  on  Marsk  Stig  and  Niels  Ebbeson." 

Now  it  is  clear  to  me  that  those  who  differ  from 
Jorgensen  cannot  claim  to  have  had  their  views  rightly 
interpreted.  "  Historically  correct,  hence  contemporary," 
—  the  conclusion  has  not  been  drawn.  A  ballad  can  re- 
late an  historical  occurrence  so  "truthfully,"  that  is  to  say, 
so  conformably  to  all  the  accounts  at  issue,  that  it  appears 
for  the  most  part  to  express  the  general,  well-known  run 
of  traditions  concerning  it ;  hence  there  arises  no  tempta- 
tion to  overlay  it  with  any  synchronism,  especially  if  it 
contains  no  details  which  bear  witness  of  fresh  and  inde- 
pendent experience  and  interpretation.  And  furthermore, 

1  Karl  Erslev,  Grundsaetninger  for  historisk  Kildekritik,  1892,  p.  21. 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     239 

in  those  details  which  it  communicates,  a  ballad  can  tally 
with  a  single  source  to  such  a  degree  that  it  seems  to  be 
founded  upon  that  source.  This  I  have  pointed  out  with 
respect  to  the  ballad  "  The  Meeting  of  Kings  in  Roskilde" 
(No.  1 1 8),  which  Jorgensen  identifies  as  the  ballad  that 
was  sung  before  the  battle  at  Grathehede;  I  accounted 
for  its  particularly  close  relation  to  Svend  Aageson's 
"  Chronicle,"  and  asserted  therefore  that  it  belongs  to  a 
much  later  day  because  of  this  very  "  correctness." 

But  neither  can  it  be  admitted  that  the  second  phrase, 
"historically  incorrect,  hence  later,"  is  an  accurate  render- 
ing of  the  proposition  laid  down.  It  is  here  a  matter  of 
prime  importance  to  know  in  what  phases  the  incorrect- 
ness manifests  itself.  Those  inaccurate  features  which  a 
singer  embodies  in  his  song  may  have  grown  out  of  a 
false  rumor  which  was  current  at  the  time  ;  therefore  just 
as  we  have  no  ground  for  surprise  at  its  appearance  in 
the  ballad,  so  the  audience  had  none  at  hearing  it  men- 
tioned. Meanwhile  the  falsity  of  the  report  would  in  a 
short  time  become  apparent,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  ballad,  or  the  verses  containing  the  false  item,  would 
be  able  to  maintain  themselves.  The  inaccuracy  could 
furthermore  have  originated  in  the  poet's  assuming  a  cer- 
tain attitude  or  in  his  belonging  to  a  certain  political  party, 
so  that  he  would  most  naturally  view  the  occurrence  in  a 
certain  light,  or  conceive  of  this  or  that  causal  relation  be- 
tween events.  In  this  case  incorrectness  will  far  rather 
indicate  that  the  ballad  was  written  in  the  thick  of  events. 
In  striking  contrast  to  this  situation  is  that  in  which  the 
balladist,  even  though  knowing  better,  distorts  the  true 
conditions  to  suit  his  own  invention. 


240         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  principle 1  which  Jorgensen  has 
laid  down  and  which  Professor  Erslev  has  sanctioned ; 
namely,  that  a  poet  is  at  liberty  to  treat  contemporary 
events  so  freely  as  to  drift  far  away  from  actual  condi- 
tions. Here  the  question  concerns  only  a  ballad  or  poem 
that  is  narrative  in  content,  one  that  is  distinguished  from 
a  prose  recital  only  by  the  nature  of  the  portrayal  and  by 
the  metrical  form  ;  the  audience  has  had  no  hint  that  the 
subject  matter  of  the  song  is  not  an  incident  drawn  from 
Denmark's  history. 

Jorgensen  has  advanced  this  statement  as  his  view  or 
opinion  without  giving  any  proofs  to  substantiate  its  truth  ; 
consequently  it  is  not  easy  for  one  who  holds  another  view 
to  attack  it.  If  it  were  attended  with  some  supporting  ex- 
planations, one  could  perhaps  expose  its  inaccuracy.  As 
it  is,  one  is  reduced  merely  to  pointing  out  the  internal 
evidence  of  its  improbability.  Here  then  I  shall  make  an 
attempt,  by  bringing  to  light  various  conditions,  to  show 
how  slightly  tenable  it  really  is. 

Would  we  in  our  own  day  approve  of  a  poet  who  arbi- 
trarily distorted  familiar  events  to  the  extent  of  shocking 
our  sense  of  what  is  true  ?  Suppose  that  a  poet  repre- 
sented King  Christian  IX  of  the  twentieth  century  as 
having  committed  his  duchy  of  Schleswig  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  his  minister  Estrup,  or  Queen  Louise  as  having 
visited  her  grandson  King  Haakon  of  Norway,2  —  how 

1  Jorgensen  published  his  view  in  the  Bidrog  til  Nordens  Historic,  pp. 
164  ff. ;  he  returns  to  it  in  the  introduction  of  my  work,  "  Vore  Folkeviser 
fra  Middelalderen,"  in  Historisk  Tidsskrift,  6th  Series,  III,  58  ff.,  60  ff.  . 

2  Schleswig  was  lost  to  Denmark  in  1864  ;  Minister  Estrup  resigned 
in  1894 ;  Queen  Louise  died  in  1898  ;  and  Haakon  became  king  of  Nor- 
way in  1905.  —  Translator's  note. 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     241 

should  we  submit  to  this,  I  wonder?  Here  I  have  in- 
vented such  conditions  of  the  present  day  as  Jorgensen 
imagines  a  balladist  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  privileged  to 
do  for  his  own  age.1  Certain  it  is  that  we  of  to-day  should 
find  it  intolerable  nonsense,  always  assuming,  of  course, 
that  the  poet  had  no  thought  of  travesty  in  his  mind  when 
he  wrote  the  ballad. 

Other  times  have  other  customs,  one  will  perhaps  say ; 
but  parallels  to  the  above  in  one  age  or  another  can  cer- 
tainly be  found,  especially  in  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is 
accordingly  worth  while  to  investigate  the  situation  in 
foreign  lands. 

The  North  offers  to  us  in  the  Icelandic  lays  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  examples  of  poetical  treatment  of  con- 
temporary events.  The  scalds  sing  of  the  latest  happen- 
ings, they  relate  the  exploits  of  the  king  in  whose  honor 
they  are  singing,  they  use  vigorous  terms  and  a  pictorial 
language ;  but  they  never  fabricate,  distort,  or  subvert. 
Thus  to  a  great  extent  Snorri  builds  up  his  picture  of 
Norway's  past  upon  the  lays.  And  he  says  in  the  preface 
to  his  work :  "  We  regard  everything  we  find  in  the  lays 
as  true  concerning  the  chiefs  or  their  battles.  It  is  the 
practice  of  the  scalds  to  extol  most  the  prince  before 
whom  they  are  singing ;  but  no  one  would  have  dared  to 
relate  to  the  very  face  of  the  prince  such  exploits  as  every- 
one, including  the  prince,  knew  to  be  lying  boasts.  This 
would  have  been  an  insult,  not  a  eulogy."  The  other  saga 

1  Jbrgensen  accordingly  maintains  that  a  contemporary  of  Valdemar 
the  Victorious  could  well  sing  that  the  king  owned  seven  realms  ;  namely, 
besides  Denmark,  Sweden,  the  land  of  the  Wends,  England,  Norway, 
Scotland,  and  Holstein  with  Mecklenburg. 


242         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

writers  own  to  the  same  views.  In  many  of  the  family 
sagas  and  in  all  of  the  kings'  sagas,  the  scald's  verses  are 
referred  to  as  contemporary  witnesses,  and  everywhere  the 
notion  prevails  that  the  scald's  utterances  are  historically 
true.  Even  scholars  of  to-day  hold  the  same  opinion  regard- 
ing the  trustworthiness  of  scaldic  poetry.1  Those  who 
have  objected  have  scarcely  made  good  their  point,  that 
the  scalds  were  independent  of  events,  or  that  they  fabri- 
cated outright,2  even  if  they  did  regard  the  lays  as  strongly 
colored  or  incorrectly  transmitted. 

A  notable  study  of  the  character  of  the  lays  was  made 
not  long  ago  by  Gustav  Storm  in  his  researches  on  the 
exploits  of  Harald  Hardrada  in  Greece  and  Italy.  Munch 
had  already  maintained  that  the  Byzantine  material  deal- 
ing with  the  subject  should  be  compared  directly  with  the 
statements  in  the  lays,  instead  of  with  the  sketches  found 
in  the  sagas,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  depended  on  the 
lays  and  often  no  doubt  misrepresented  the  foreign  con- 
ditions. Moreover  Storm  had  at  his  disposal  a  newly  dis- 
covered Greek  source,  and  thereby  could  carry  on  the 
investigation  much  further ;  he  showed  that  the  scald's 
assertions  were  borne  out  at  every  point  by  the  actual 
events,  so  that  the  verses  in  part  agreed  with  the  Greek 
account  and  in  part  supplemented  it.3 

1  See  Finnur  Jonsson's  account  in  Den  oldnorske  og  oldislandske 
Litteraturs  Historic,  I,  358  ff. 

2  A.  D.  Jbrgensen  has  asserted  in  Den  nordiske  Kirkes  Grundlaeg- 
gelse,  Tillaeg,  pp.  69  ff.,  that  the  narratives  dealing  with  the  events  of 
Harald  Hardrada's  home-coming,  and  with  his  relations  to  Magnus  the 
Good,  ought  to  show  how  the  scalds  kept  dark  things  which  had  taken 
place  and  to  a  certain  extent  distorted  them.   He  is  explicitly  opposed 
to  Finnur  Jonsson,  ibid.,  pp.  362-366. 

8  Norsk  hi$torisk  Tidsskrift,  2d  Series,  IV,  354  ff.,  379. 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     243 

Let  us  turn  now  to  another  people. 

In  Germany  there  exists  a  wealth  of  ballads  on  historical 
subjects.  A  collection  of  these,  625  in  number,  has  been 
published  in  four  volumes  by  Von  Liliencron.  In  the 
preface  to  the  second  volume,  the  editor  acknowledges 
that  he  ought  to  have  called  the  collection  "  political  bal- 
lads." They  bear  so  close  a  relation  to  the  conditions  of 
the  day  that  they  in  reality  enter  into  them  and  seek  to 
influence  the  course  of  events.  Consequently  these  "  Neue 
Lieder  "  have  quite  a  well-marked  partisan  standpoint,  and 
therefore  it  is  possible  that  their  portrayal  of  occurrences 
is  strongly  colored.  At  the  same  time  there  is  to  be  noted 
throughout  the  utter  absence  of  fabrication  on  the  part  of 
the  authors,  who  were  contemporary  with  the  incidents. 
The  audience  was  not  possessed  with  the  idea  that,  because 
it  is  the  world  of  song  or  because  a  narrative  is  rimed 
and  metrical,  other  rules  govern  the  presentation  of  reality. 
A  search  through  the  whole  collection1  will  reveal  that 
this  is  an  altogether  fixed,  general  principle,  and  that  it  is 
only  after  some  time  has  elapsed  and  after  events  have 
become  wrapped  up  in  the  haze  of  the  past  that  the  poet 
may  run  counter,  either  through  personal  bias  or  through 
defective  knowledge,  to  the  facts  of  reality.  The  worst 
fault  of  these  ballads,  in  poetical  respects,  lies  in  this,  that 
they  are  altogether  accurate,  that  they  follow  too  closely 
the  succession  and  course  of  details  without  giving  us  a 
general  survey  of  principle,  and  without  striving  for  dra- 
matic unity.  Consequently  the  poetical  worth  of  the  ballads 
is  rigidly  circumscribed.  If  one  still  remains  unconvinced 

1  Von  Liliencron,  Die  historischen  Volkslieder  der  Deutschen,  I~IV. 
Cf.  id.,  Deutsches  Leben  im  Volkslied  um  1 530,  pp.  xxx  ff. 


244         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

after  a  perusal  of  Von  Liliencron's  collection  or  of  his 
commentaries  on  the  ballads,  he  needs  but  to  examine 
other  collections  to  find  the  same  view  holding  good.1 

Let  us  look  still  farther  afield  and  come  to  France.  Here 
it  is  of  moment  to  ask  how  the  Norman  dukes  and  Eng- 
lish kings  were  besung  in  the  long,  metrical  romances  of 
Wace  and  Benoit.  These  poems  were  designed  to  be  re- 
cited in  the  presence  of  public  assemblies ;  they  related 
not  only  happenings  of  the  more  distant  past  but  also 
events  nearer  to  their  own  day.  But  the  poets  recorded  as 
faithfully  as  they  could,  and  they  embellished  their  por- 
trayals only  with  speeches  and  with  anecdotes  which  they 
had  heard.  It  did  not  occur  to  them  to  distort  truth.2  Now 
it  is  an  utter  certainty  that  these  poets  did  not  bring  their 
recitals  down  to  the  period  in  which  they  were  living  them- 
selves ;  it  is  wholly  inconceivable,  however,  that  if  they  had 
advanced  farther — as  was  their  intention  —  they  would 
have  allowed  the  narrative  to  shift  the  characters  about,  and 
have  permitted  fantasy  to  rule,  particularly  over  the  period 
which  was  best  known  to  themselves  and  to  their  audience. 

The  poet  Ambroise,  who  took  part  in  the  expedition  of 
Richard  the  Lion-Hearted  to  the  Holy  Land,  described 
immediately  after,  in  poetical  form,  the  deeds  and  achieve- 
ments of  this  famous  king,  in  which  he  showed  himself  to 
be  an  honest,  straightforward,  and  accurate  recorder.  On 
this  account  he  is  a  valuable  source  of  historical  material. 

1  Such  as  Erk  u.  Bohme,  Deutscher  Liederhort,  II ;   Bohme,  Alt- 
deutsches  Liederbuch.  Cf.  Rud.  Hildebrand,  Materialien  zur  Geschichte 
des  deutschen  Volkslieder,  I,  183  ff. 

2  Grober,  Grundrisz   der   romanischen  Philologie,   Vol.  II,   Pt.  r, 
pp.  635-637 ;   Gaston  Paris,  La  litterature  frai^aise  au  moyen   age, 
2d  ed.,  p.  133. 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     245 

Among  the  Anglo-Norman  poets  the  unknown  author  of 
the  recently  discovered  great  "  Vie  de  Guillaume  le  Mare- 
chal "  occupies  the  place  of  honor.  The  explicit  descrip- 
tion of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke's  private  and  public  life  was 
composed,  according  to  the  wish  of  his  son,  a  few  years 
after  the  earl's  death  (1219);  the  author  was  a  highly 
cultured,  clear-headed,  and  observant  man,  who  was  just 
as  painstaking  as  he  was  solicitous  of  truth.  The  marvel- 
ous deeds  of  Crusading  days  may  well  have  given  rise  to 
pictures  wholly  imaginative  in  character;  but  these  very 
poems,  as  Gaston  Paris  points  out,  depended  on  older  ac- 
counts, which  in  a  higher  degree  retailed  genuine  history.1 
Such  seems  to  be  the  evidence  that  French  literature 
offers  us.  The  poems  cited  are  not,  to  be  sure,  historical 
popular  ballads ;  since  the  latter  are  not  to  be  found  in 
France,  I  had  to  content  myself  with  showing  how  the 
poets  treated  contemporary  history. 

It  is  only  in  English  literature  that  we  meet  with  ballads 
which,  not  only  in  respect  to  their  form  but  also  in  respect 
to  their  portrayal  of  historical  events,  are  comparable  to 
our  Danish  ballads  of  historical  content.  Whoever  goes 
through  Child's  great  collection,  or  through  that  of  any  one 
else,  will  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion.2  The  balladist 
sings  about  that  which  has  taken  place  as  well  as  he  knows 
how ;  but  he  does  not  consciously  distort  things.  Nor,  as 
far  as  I  know,  has  any  one  accused  him  of  composing 

1  Cf.  chap.  v. "  Langlois  "  in  Julleville's  Histoire  de  la  langue  et  de  la 
litterature  frai^aise,  Vol.  II,  Pt.  2,  pp.  280  ff.,  292,  295  ;  Grober,  Grund- 
risz,   Vol.  II,   Pt.  i,   p.  639;   Gaston  Paris,   La  litterature  franjaise, 
pp.  125  ff.,  136. 

2  F.  J.  Child,  The  English  and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads,  Vols.  I-IV  ; 
F.  B.  Gummere,  Old  English  Ballads. 


246         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

contrary  to  his  better  knowledge.  On  this  point  I  shall  quote 
Talvj.  After  calling  attention  to  the  fresh,  healthy  blood 
of  the  English  ballads,  she  goes  on  to  say  :  "  The  simple, 
unadorned  truth  of  history  is  here  so  poetic  that  not  even 
the  help  of  verse  seems  needed  to  impart  to  the  ballads  the 
highest  degree  of  poetic  interest.  That  is,  of  course,  not 
objective  but  subjective  truth ;  that  is,  not  facts  as  they 
really  were,  for  the  historical  ballads  of  the  English  have 
wandered  far  from  conscientious  fidelity,  which  is  unfortu- 
nately the  main  excellence  and  often  the  sole  merit  of  the 
historical  ballads  of  the  Germans."  1 

To  this  I  can  add  that,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  none  of 
the  historians  of  literature  in  foreign  lands  have  expressed 
themselves  so  radically  on  poetic  composition  of  any  sort 
as  has  Jorgensen.  Apparently,  then,  people  have  had  a 
natural  antipathy  to  seeing  those  matters  which  every  one 
knows  of  or  can  learn  the  truth  of  turned  arbitrarily  upside 
down  by  a  poet.2  Even  to-day  the  people  demand  of  a 
"  new  ballad  " 3  that  it  give  a  true  account  of  the  last 

1  Talvj,  Versuch  einer  geschichtlichen  Charakteristik  der  Volks- 
lieder,  p.  480. 

8  No  contemporary  poet  would  have  sung,  "  Mallebrok  died  in  the 
war,"  seeing  that  Marlborough  died  on  a  sick  bed  many  years  after  the 
war  had  ceased.  True  the  ballad  is  not  synchronous  with  the  event,  but 
sprang  from  a  far  older  period,  and  seems  to  have  been  sung  at  an  earlier 
day  about  the  Duke  of  Guise.  Cf.  Scheffler,  Franzosische  Volksdich- 
tung,  II,  107  ff . ;  Zeit.  des  Vereins  f.  Volkskunde,  VI,  459. 

8  The  idea  and  the  term  "  new  ballad  "  is  as  old  as  it  is  popular,  as 
will  be  seen  from  various  references  to  it.  Even  in  the  twelfth  century 
we  read  in  one  of  the  "  Carmina  Burana  "  that  the  maidens  played  in 
the  meadow  and  sang  new  ballads  : 

quarum  nova  carmina 
dulci  sonant  ore, 

and  in  a  manuscript  of  Lancelot  there  are  mentioned  "  six  puceles  qui 
queroloient  [carolaient,  '  danced ']  et  chantoient  une  novele  cha^on." 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     247 

murder  or  the  latest  accident ;  any  ballad  printed  this  year 
which  departs  openly  from  the  truth  would  fail  of  popular 
acceptance  and  would  forfeit  the  general  confidence  in 
such  ballads. 

And  while  the  street  ballads  of  the  present  day  are  prob- 
ably read  just  as  much  as  they  are  sung,  in  the  Middle 
Ages  the  written  basis  was  binding  to  a  very  limited  de- 
gree ;  at  that  time  the  ballads  virtually  lived  as  song,  they 
called  an  entire  circle  into  cooperation  by  compelling  it  to 
take  part  in  the  proem  or  to  sing  in  chorus  the  refrain. 
But  that  very  community  of  possession  with  respect  to  the 
ballads  must  have  made  it  more  nearly  impossible  for  arbi- 
trary distortion  of  contemporary  history  to  get  the  upper 
hand.  Such  a  course  would  have  at  once  met  with  objec- 
tions from  all  those  who  knew  better,  and  would  have 
given  rise  to  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  audience  to  share 
in  the  singer's  unreliable  account.1 

These  are  the  general  views  which  may  presumably  be 
held  by  one  who  casts  a  glance  over  the  literature  of  Europe 
as  opposed  to  the  hypothesis  laid  down  above.  I  cannot 
therefore  entertain  any  other  opinion  than  that  Jorgensen's 
statement,  however  brilliant  it  may  otherwise  be,  tends  to 
mislead  with  regard  to  the  real  state  of  things.  The  cast  of 

1  For  instance,  a  contemporary  ballad  poet  might  very  well  say  that 
Count  Gert  was  slain  in  the  night,  while  another  contemporary  might 
say  that  he  was  slain  in  the  daytime,  "and  not  at  night  with  all,"  —  or 
rather  he  might  add  a  rectifying  stanza  of  such  a  nature  to  the  ballad. 
The  difference  here  is  merely  one  of  another  interpretation,  a  varying 
piece  of  information.  But  a  verse  which  relates  that  Niels  Ebbeson 
marched  to  Norway  and  lived  there  care-free  and  happy  cannot  be 
charged  to  a  contemporary ;  the  latter  could  not  in  the  presence  of 
everybody  turn  upside  down  facts  that  were  known  to  all.  Cf.  also 
Dr.  Sofus  Larsen's  remarks  in  Aarbogerfor  nord.  Oldk.,  1903,  pp.  121  ff. 


248         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

mind  belonging  to  the  past,  and  the  current  attitude  toward 
the  true  and  the  false,  must  have  tended  to  sharpen  the  natural 
feeling  against  arbitrary  distortion  of  recent  experiences. 

In  conclusion  I  shall  add  a  few  remarks  on  the  consid- 
erations which  would  of  themselves  hinder  a  poet  from 
sacrificing  truth  to  poetic  effect. 

In  the  first  place,  one  spoke  of  and  used  the  fictitious 
far  more  guardedly  then  than  at  present.  A  false  report 
could  produce  far  greater  harm  and  was  far  more  difficult 
to  disprove  than  in  our  day,  when  the  means  of  rapid  com- 
munication and  the  widespread  use  of  newspapers  can 
easily  reduce  incorrect  or  false  statements  to  their  own 
proper  level.  Moreover  those  who  carried  messages  which 
concerned  the  whole  country  and  which  might  possibly 
bring  about  an  uprising  among  the  people  must  take  pre- 
cautions against  bearing  unauthenticated  reports,  if  they 
wished  to  escape  severe  punishment.1  There  existed,  too, 
in  those  days  a  public  sentiment  which  resented  being 
violated.  In  the  next  place,  a  false  recital  of  contemporary 
events  might  happen  to  injure  some  one  party  or  another, 
or  certain  circles  of  society,  or  a  single  individual  or  family, 
and  they  who  felt  themselves  aggrieved  would  not  suffer 
themselves  to  be  represented  in  a  false  or  perhaps  malicious 
light.  The  feeling  of  honor  was  alive  to  such  a  degree 
that  it  would  not  allow  an  accusation  to  go  unpunished.2 
That  the  laws  in  Denmark  made  very  little  mention  of 

1  Cf.,  for  instance,  Fagrskinna,  chap,  xxxii ;  Norges  gamle  Love,  I, 
102 ;   II,  35 ;  Flateyjarb6k,   I,  59,  184  ;  Steenstrup,   Venderne  og  de 
Danske,  pp.  42  ff. ;  Christian  IPs  gejstlige  Lov,  chap,  cxxiii ;  Statute, 
1537,  art.  19. 

2  I  refer  to  the  material  that  has  been  collected  by  L.  Freund,  Lug 
u.  Trug  (vom  Standpunkt  des  Strafrechts  und  der  Geschichte). 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     249 

insults  to  one's  honor  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence ; l  it 
was  felt  to  be  a  difficult  subject  for  legislation.  In  the  realm 
of  injuries  an  individual  was  adjudged  free  to  rule  according 
as  he  saw  fit,  to  invent  his  own  reparation. 

Most  of  all,  however,  poems  and  ballads  were  feared,  for 
they  could  flit  about  the  country  and  leave  an  insulting  rumor 
to  germinate  in  every  man's  mind.  Hence  the  mere  notion 
of  a  false  picture  of  events  must  have  seemed  dangerous. 

Even  in  olden  times,  among  the  Norse,  satirical  verses 
were  a  much  dreaded  weapon.  In  the  Gragas  (an  Icelandic 
law  code)  there  is  found  a  provision  (c.  238)  which  forbade 
the  composition  of  a  poem  on  an  individual,  even  though 
it  contained  no  satire  ;  two  lines,  however,  were  permitted. 
If  an  entire  poem — namely,  eight  lines — contained  satire, 
the  author  was  fined  three  marks,  and  if  the  composition 
were  longer,  he  was  banished.  For  a  strophe  of  four  lines 
containing  satire,  the  poet  was  outlawed,  as  well  as  he 
who  composed  lampoons  in  verse  on  the  Danish,  Nor- 
wegian, or  Swedish  kings.  In  other  lands  we  find  that 
heavy  penalties  were  attached  to  the  composition  of  satiri- 
cal ballads ; z  it  was  even  forbidden  to  compose  new  ballads 
on  the  political  situation  of  the  day.  Accordingly  the 
council  of  Breslau  was  obliged  to  take  legal  proceedings 
against  the  "neue  Gesange  und  Gedichte"  when  the 

1  On  the  far-reaching  effect  of  a  derisive  word  and  on  the  grim 
revenge  exacted,  see  Grundtvig,  Folkeviser,  Nos.  358,  363,  364,  366- 
368,  457  ;  cf.  also  No.  391. 

z  Koegel,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Litteratur,  Vol.  I,  Pt.  i,  p.  208; 
Paul,  Grundrisz  der  germ.  Philologie,  Vol.  I,  Pt.  i,  pp.  171  ff . ;  Gaston 
Paris  in  Journal  des  Savants,  1891,  p.  680.  Luc  de  la  Barre  composed 
and  sang  satirical  ballads  on  Henry  I,  for  which  he  was  condemned  to 
lose  his  sight ;  Luc  killed  himself  in  prison  ;  see  Orderici  Vitalis,  Hist. 
Eccles.,  ed.  by  Le  Prevost,  IV,  459  ff. 


250        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

priests  and  the  people  raged  against  the  newly  chosen  king, 
Georg  Podiebrad  (1457).  His  successor,  King  Ladislaus, 
reproached  the  citizens  of  Zittau  for  having  composed 
and  sung  "  neue  Lieder."  When  Philip  the  Good  would 
put  down  the  strife  in  Holland  between  the  two  parties, 
Kabeljaus  and  Hoeks,  he  forbade  the  use  of  these  party 
names  and  the  singing  and  reciting  of  insulting  ballads.1 
In  fact,  we  have  instances  to  certify  that  the  magistrates 
prohibited  the  playing  of  melodies  belonging  to  insulting 
ballads  from  the  towers.2 

There  is  found  in  Von  Liliencron  a  German  ballad 
(No.  119)  which  very  characteristically  illuminates  the  sub- 
ject. Bishop  Johannes,  of  Wiirzburg,  had  a  valet  named 
Haasz,  "  der  konnte  wohl  singen,"  whose  especial  business  it 
was  to  bring  to  the  bishop  the  news  of  everything,  important 
or  trivial,  that  happened  in  the  town.  Meanwhile  Haasz  did 
not  stick  to  the  truth.  He  added  something  of  his  own, 
according  as  the  person  concerning  whom  he  reported  was 
friendly  or  inimical  to  him.  Therefore  it  came  about  that 
many  people  who  were  innocent  got  into  trouble,  and  many 
who  were  guilty  escaped  punishment.  As  a  consequence, 
the  arrogant  valet  was  feared  and  hardly  endured.  On  the 
bishop's  death  (1466),  the  valet  at  once  thought  of  slipping 
away,  but  he  was  captured  by  the  people  and,  amid  many 
bitter  jests,  his  hands  were  tied  behind  his  back  and  he 
was  thrown  into  the  Main.  "  Now  go  to-day  to  your  lord, 
sing  him  a  song,  and  bring  him  the  news !  "  The  poem, 
made  by  some  contemporary  on  the  event,  contains  an 
account  of  Haasz 's  arrival  before  the  bishop. 

1  Von  Liliencron,  Die  historischen  Volkslieder,  II,  iii,  339. 

2  Bohme,  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,  p.  xxxvii. 


HISTORICAL  TRUTH  IN  BALLAD  POETRY     251 

The  editor  Von  Liliencron  sympathizes  with  Haasz : 
Even  if  he  had  been  malicious  in  his  songs  and  talk,  "  the 
popular  justice  executed  against  him  was  even  ruder  and 
more  atrocious.  He  has  therefore  the  claim  to  be  remem- 
bered in  a  collection  of  historical  ballads  as  a  martyr  to  his 
verse."  This  is  doing  Haasz  too  great  an  honor.  And  the 
popular  justice  which  was  put  into  force  is,  in  any  case,  a 
living  witness  of  how  such  conduct  was  regarded.  Opposed 
to  such  false  charges  the  common  people  stood  defenseless, 
and  they  felt  that  death  alone  was  a  fitting  punishment. 
From  the  Danish  ballads  also  we  learn  that  grim  and 
bloody  revenge  followed  upon  false  charges  and  assertions.1 

Thus  I  have  shown  how  both  the  nature  of  things  and 
the  form  of  a  ballad  sung  by  the  people  would  definitely 
restrict  arbitrary  distortion  of  contemporary  events. 

But  above  all,  in  the  foregoing,  I  have  had  in  mind  only 
ballads  dealing  with  contemporary  happenings.  When  treat- 
ing of  that  which  lay  a  generation  back  in  time,  or  with  the 
distant  past  of  the  folk,  the  poets  were  not  bound  to  stick  so 
rigidly  to  the  truth.  And  yet  a  closer  examination  may  show 
that  such  a  free  dealing  with  historical  experiences  and 
figures  of  the  past  as  poets  of  to-day  allow  themselves, 
did  not  obtain  in  the  Middle  Ages.  At  any  rate,  the  great 
traditions,  which  were  the  common  possession  of  the  people 
and  were  known  to  high  and  low,  were  not  suffered  to  deviate 
from  the  truth ;  the  folk  would  not  put  up  with  poetic  caprice, 
however  much  the  poets  had  leave  to  fill  out  traditions  and 
to  invent  happenings  in  the  spirit  of  antiquity.  I  shall  not, 
however,  enter  upon  this  comprehensive  question. 

1  Grundtvig,  Folkeviser,  Nos.  262,  266 ;  Nyerup  og  Rahbeck,  Udvalgte 
Viser,  III,  No.  119;  Kristensen,  Jydske  Folkeviser,  II,  No.  63. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
RETROSPECT 

In  conclusion  let  us  cast  a  glance  back  over  the  results 
obtained. 

Throughout  I  have  in  essence  attempted  to  show  on  in- 
ternal evidence  what  is  old  and  genuine,  what  arose  during 
the  Middle  Ages  and  persisted  on  from  that  time  unspoiled  ; 
I  have  tried  to  point  out  the  contrasting  color  and  tone 
which  distinguishes  the  later,  modern  additions.  It  may 
reasonably  be  asked,  however,  whether  we  have  no  exter- 
nal guides  toward  identifying  the  age  and  aspect  of  the 
ballads  with  respect  to  definite  dates.  When  Svend 
Grundtvig  declares,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  a  certain 
ballad  to  be  a  genuine  ballad  of  chivalry  belonging  to  the 
twelfth  century,  does  he  base  his  statements  on  belief 
alone  ?  On  this  point  our  only  answer  is  that  we  must 
depend  substantially  upon  the  ballad  collections  made  by 
the  ladies  of  the  nobility  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  and  that  it  is  very  difficult  therefore  to  say  just 
what  a  ballad  looked  like  in  the  twelfth  century.  If,  into 
the  bargain,  it  is  characterized  as  a  ballad  of  chivalry,  it 
deserves  to  be  remembered  that  certainly  nothing  of  chivalry 
proper  is  to  be  found  in  Denmark  at  that  time. 

We  should  endeavor  to  see,  on  purely  external  grounds, 
how  far  back  in  time  we  are  in  a  position  to  trace  the  ballads. 
When  we  undertake  such  a  retrogressive  journey  we  light 

252 


RETROSPECT  253 

upon  the  following  results.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century  Laurentius  Petri  mentions  the  ballad  of  "  Hagbard 
and  Signe,"  and  in  a  tract  on  the  popish  mass,  dating 
from  1533,  the  precentor  says  that  he  will  "  cheer  himself 
with  the  ballad  of  '  Rane,'  "  which  was  also  known  to  the 
Swedish  historian,  Master  Erik  Olsen  (ob.  1486) ;  "quidam 
Rane,  de  quo  canticum  solenne  frequentatur."  Christiern 
Pedersen  writes  in  1534,  "the  old  heroic  ballad  runs, 
'  Olger  the  Dane  won  a  victory  over  Burmand  '  "  ;  and  the 
very  same  line  is  found  introduced  in  a  fresco  painting  in 
the  Floda  church  in  Sodermanland,  dating  from  the  con- 
clusion of  the  fifteenth  century:  "Hollager  da(n)s(k)  ha(n) 
wan  siger  af  Burman  [Holger  the  Dane  won  a  victory 
over  Burmand]." 

But  we  can  go  somewhat  farther  back  yet.  In  a  manu- 
script in  Linkoping,  of  1450,  there  is  written  a  portion  of 
"The  Knight  transformed  into  a  Hart"  (No.  67):  "I 
dreamed  all  the  night  of  a  maiden  "  ;  and  in  a  manuscript 
in  the  Royal  Library  of  Copenhagen,  belonging  to  the 
same  date,  occurs  several  times  the  refrain  from  the  ballad 
of  "  Marsk  Stig"  (No.  145)  :  "  For  this  the  land  stands 
in  danger." l  At  about  the  same  time  the  geographer 


1  In  a  Latin  MS.,  New  Royal  Collection  123  4to,  which  contains  devo- 
tional and  theological  pieces,  there  are  found  written  down  at  the  bottom 
on  the  side  or  at  the  end  of  the  piece  the  following  scraps,  which  seem 
to  be  pen  tests.  On  page  26,  verso,  at  the  bottom :  "  Hay  ffre  gudh 
giordh  [God  has  made  ?]  ";  p.  38,  v. :  "multi  sunt  prelati  sive  sacerdotes 
nomine  sed  pauci  dignitate  "  (Augustinus) ;  "  Hay  free  gudh  giord  fforthy 
standh  j  waadh  [God  has  made  the  land  to  stand  in  danger]  " ;  "  Non 
semper  oleum  "  ;  p.  50,  v. :  "fforthy  stand  landh  i  waadh  [51,  r.]  cogita 
ad  quem  finem  posses  venire";  p.  54,  v. :  "fforthy  stand  landh  j  waad"; 
"Non  semper  oleum  hay  hay."  The  assistant  librarian,  Mr.  C.Weeke, 
came  across  these  notes  and  kindly  called  my  attention  to  them. 


254         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Claudius  Clavus  noted  down  the  ballad  verse  which  he  used 
in  an  enumeration  of  a  series  of  place-names  in  Greenland.1 
It  has  been  mentioned  above  (p.  137)  that  a  Swedish  ballad 
verse  is  found  in  a  manuscript  of  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

But  we  can  travel  a  whole  century  farther  back,  namely, 
to  the  stump  of  a  ballad  ("  I  dreamed  a  dream  late  last 
night "),  which,  together  with  its  melody,  is  found  in  the 
Runic  Manuscript  of  the  Skaane  Laws  (c.  1300).  When 
we  consider  next  that  we  know  of  a  verse  from  an  Icelandic 
ballad  of  the  thirteenth  century  which  has  a  form  altogether 
like  that  of  the  Danish,  then  we  can  well  believe  that  our 
ballad  poetry  goes  back  to  the  thirteenth  century. 

Saxo  repeats  in  his  circumlocutory  manner  old  ballads 
(such  as  the  one  on  the  sons  of  Armgrim,  the  one  on  the 
battle  of  Braavalla),  which  were  written  down  in  alliterative 
verse  ;  but  this  does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  ballads 
having  been  composed  in  the  style  of  the  heroic  ballads. 
Their  form  could  scarcely  be  recognized  under  a  Latin  dress, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  the  two  styles  having 
lived  side  by  side,  just  as  was  the  case  in  England,  where 
one  finds  alliterative  verse  existing  in  as  late  a  period  as 
the  fourteenth  century,2  while  at  the  same  time  we  know 
that  King  Canute  the  Great  is  said  to  have  composed  the 

stanza : 

Merie  sungen  •Se  muneches  binnen  Ely, 

•Sa  Cnut  ching  rew  fler  by ; 
roweft,  cnithes,  noer  iSe  land, 
and  here  we  )>es  muneches  saeng ! 

1  Bjombo  and  Carl  S.  Petersen,  "  Claudius  laussaen  Swart,"  in  Vidensk. 
Sehkabs  Skrifter,  6th  Series,  Histor.-philos.  Afdeling,  Vol.  VI,  Pt.  2, 
pp.  149  ff.  2  Rosenberg,  Nordboernes  Aandsliv,  II,  446. 


RETROSPECT  255 

Perhaps  the  oldest  example  extant  in  Denmark  of  the  use 
of  end  rime  is  an  inscription  in  the  Oster  Bronderslei 
church  in  Zealand,  dating  from  about  1 200 ;  but  the  in- 
scription uses  also  alliteration.1  The  conclusion  that  we 
arrive  at  is  this :  there  is  a  possibility  that  in  Denmark 
ballads  were  composed  after  the  style  of  the  heroic  ballads 
as  early  as  the  twelfth  century ;  but  that  in  every  case 
proof  must  be  submitted  to  show  that  any  one  ballad  can 
be  assigned  to  so  distant  a  date. 

Meanwhile  my  investigations  in  the  historical  ballads2 
have  brought  to  light  that  we  have  no  ground  for  regard- 
ing any  given  ballad  extant  as  having  originated  in  the 
twelfth  century.  These  deal  with  events  of  that  time,  but 
they  do  not  speak  like  contemporary  witnesses,  although, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  do  not  appear  to  be  much  later. 
As  far  as  the  thirteenth  century  is  concerned,  the  matter 
stands  otherwise,  for  both  Dagmar  and  Marsk  Stig  have 
been  besung  as  well  as  events  of  the  time  of  Valdemar 
the  Great. 

There  exist  moreover  several  ballads  that  I  have  not 
touched  upon  in  the  foregoing  which  surely  date  from  the 
thirteenth  century.  These  are  Danish  ballads,  but  they 
concern  themselves  with  Swedish  affairs,  in  that  they  sing 
of  the  abduction  of  women  belonging  to  the  family  of 
Sune  Folkeson.  One  of  these,  "  King  Birger's  Sister 
Bengta"  (No.  155),  tells  how  Sune  Folkeson's  daughter 
Benedicte  was  carried  off  from  the  cloister  by  the 


1  See  my  treatise  on  the  final  period  of  alliteration  and  the  first  of 
end  rime  in  Histor.  Ttdsskrift,  7th  Series,  IV,  121  ff. 

2  Johannes  Steenstrup,  Vore  Folkeviser  fra  Middelalderen,  chap,  vii, 
1891. 


256         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Ostrogoth  Lagmand  Lars.  What  the  ballad  relates  agrees 
well  with  what  evidence  we  can  gather  from  scattered 
sources  of  various  kinds.  An  annal  gives  us  even  the  date 
of  the  event,  —  1245,  —  but  it  seems  highly  improbable 
that  the  author  of  a  ballad  should  have  collected  the  diverse 
materials  and  from  these  formed  a  ballad.  Another  ballad, 
"  Sune  Folkeson"  (No.  138),  relates  that  Eline,  the  mother 
of  the  woman  who  was  thus  carried  off,  had  suffered  a  simi- 
lar fate,  in  that  Sune  had  taken  her  away  from  the  Vreta 
Cloister ;  here  at  any  rate  several  of  the  actors  are  histori- 
cal and  the  events  themselves  are  by  no  means  improbable. 
Finally  there  befell  an  abduction  in  the  third  generation  of 
that  family,  when,  according  to  the  ballad  "  Folke  Algotson  " 
(No.  1 80),  Ingrid,  a  daughter  of  Benedicte  by  her  second 
marriage  with  Svantopolk  Knutson,  was  abducted  by  Folke 
Algotson,  just  as  she  was  about  to  celebrate  her  wedding 
with  the  Danish  lord  high  constable  David  Thorstenson. 
This  event  is  recorded  in  the  annals  for  1287  or  1288,  and 
it  was  one  which  had  serious  consequences  for  the  sons  of 
Algot  (see  Nos.  181,  182).  In  addition  to  the  stamp  of 
old  age  which  distinguishes  these  ballads,  historic  reality 
pervades  them  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  the  representa- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  is  so  independent  of  the  sources 
that  there  is  no  question  of  their  having  been  written  down 
contemporaneously  with  the  events.1 

With  the  evidence  thus  brought  forth  agrees  also  the 
fact  that  a  ballad  verse  was  written  down  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Erik  Menved  (c.  1300),  and  the  ballad  of  "  Niels 
Ebbeson  "  (No.  156)  must  have  been  composed  immediately 
after  the  event,  that  is,  April  i,  1340. 

1  Cf.  H.  Schiick,  Svenska  Literaturhistoria,  I,  1 18. 


RETROSPECT  257 

The  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  apparently  repre- 
sent the  period  of  flowering  for  the  ballads,  but  it  is  pos- 
sible that  a  great  portion  of  the  ballads  of  chivalry  first 
date  from  that  period  which  marked  the  transition  to  the 
Reformation  or  even  from  that  age,  so  full  of  ferment, 
contemporaneous  with  Luther.  Gaston  Paris,  in  a  learned 
dissertation,  has  set  himself  against  the  tendency  to  place 
the  ballads  of  European  lands  far  back  in  time,  and  he 
asserts  that  the  great  flowering  of  lyric-epic  poetry  begins 
in  most  lands  in  the  fifteenth  or,  at  the  earliest,  in  the 
fourteenth  century.1  I  believe,  however,  that  in  the  case 
of  Denmark  this  period  may  be  set  somewhat  farther 
back  ;  but  the  main  development  and  the  greatest  part  of 
the  fruiting  this  poetry  reserved  for  the  later  years  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

It  has  thus  been  possible  to  trace  the  changes  in  taste 
and  style  which  came  over  the  ballads  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  Middle  Ages  or  in  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. When  one  sets  himself  to  define  accurately  the 
general  outer  character  and  the  contents  of  the  ballads ; 
when,  for  example,  one  investigates  how  closely  ballad 
poetry  approached  to  the  realm  of  the  lyric,  or  the  degree 
in  which  the  refrain  and  the  text  admit  the  personality  of 
the  singer ;  when  one  considers  to  how  great  or  how  small 
an  extent  religious  belief,  feeling  for  one's  fatherland,  or 
learning  makes  itself  felt ;  when  one  scrupulously  tests 
the  ballad's  external  form  and  appearance  :  then  he  will 
have  an  opportunity  to  observe  and  to  marvel  over  the  way 
in  which  various  ballads  and  groups  of  ballads  constantly 
happen  to  stand  as  exceptions,  and  over  the  ease  with 

1  Journal  des  savants,  1889,  pp.  526  ff. 


258         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

which  they  become  exceptions  in  several  of  the  directions 
named  above.  These  deviations  are  in  and  for  themselves 
remarkable,  for  within  all  folk  poetry  composition  comes 
about  easily,  in  the  same  manner,  with  the  same  basis,  and 
in  the  same  style ;  and  the  singer  everywhere  avoids  as- 
serting his  own  peculiar  individuality  and  taste.  Least  of 
all  will  such  a  subjective  attitude  seek  to  maintain  itself 
in  a  variety  of  ways,  or  to  depart  in  several  different  direc- 
tions from  the  common  starting  point,  either,  for  example, 
in  form  or  in  content.  Ballads  which  do  this  are  in  every 
case  pushed  out  to  the  extreme  limits  of  this  kind  of 
poetry ;  and  suspicion  against  them  is  usually  augmented 
by  the  very  condition  that  the  predominating  taste  and 
style  of  these  exceptions  prove  to  be  exactly  like  those 
which  prevailed  during  the  Renaissance  and  the  Learned 
Period  —  a  taste  and  style  that  are  highly  significant  for 
all  those  verses  which  were  added  in  late  manuscripts  to 
ballads  of  the  old  type,  which  are  recognized  as  belonging 
to  old  manuscripts. 

In  this  way  then  a  large  number  of  ballads  which  ob- 
structed the  clarity  of  vision  in  folk  poetry  can  apparently 
be  removed  and  conducted  to  their  proper  place,  that  is, 
to  learned  poetry  or  more  particularly  to  street  ballads  of 
the  last  few  centuries. 

But  among  the  great  number  of  genuine  ballads  which 
we  can  assign  to  a  period  preceding  the  Reformation  we 
can  find  still  other  tokens  which  determine  their  earlier  or 
later  dates.  We  trace,  for  example,  in  the  romantic  ballads, 
where  a  false  taste  appears,  the  influence  of  a  more  learned 
or  more  artistic  poetry ;  we  notice  in  later  ballads  lyrical 
elements  fused  with  the  older,  purely  epic  style ;  at  the 


RETROSPECT  259 

same  time  also,  as  in  Germany,  the  melody  has  begun  to 
get  the  better  of  the  text.  Furthermore  there  enters  into 
the  make-up  of  the  ballads  a  new  chord,  a  new  grasp  and 
dash  ;  the  note  of  patriotism  constantly  lets  itself  be  heard 
more  loudly ;  and  whereas  the  earlier  love  songs  were  to 
a  pronounced  degree  light,  cheerful,  and  happy,1  the  songs 
of  the  time  of  the  Reformation  are  in  every  instance  con- 
cerned with  rejected  passion  and  distracted  moods.  De- 
spondency here  finds  expression  rather  as  a  new  mood 
than  as  an  emotion  arising  from  a  changed  conception 
of  life. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  to  what  degree  the  re- 
frains form  an  inseparable,  component  part  of  the  ballads. 
The  contrast  between  the  text  and  the  refrain  has  also  been 
emphasized.  In  the  refrain  the  /,  which  is  excluded  from 
the  body  of  the  ballad,  puts  itself  forward ;  it  voices  its 
joys  and  sorrows,  and  it  invokes  the  listeners  and  sym- 
pathizers. Here  feeling  is  not  content  with  working  under 
cover  of  the  narrative,  but  breaks  out  directly.  Here  the 
singer  shows  his  partiality  for  the  beauty  of  nature  and 
the  flowers  ("The  woods  are  decked  all  in  flowers"). 
Here  words  are  addressed  immediately  to  the  auditors 
("Guide  ye  well  the  runes").  Here  moralizing  finds  a 
place  ("  Fair  words  gladden  many  a  heart "),  and  wishes 
may  be  uttered  ("May  I  capture  one  of  the  fairest"). 

1  Bohme,  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,  p.  xxxiii :  "  The  older  love 
songs  are  overwhelmingly  cheerful  and  voice  practically  nothing  but 
the  victorious  mood  of  love " ;  Talvj,  Charakteristik  der  Volkslieder 
germanischer  Nationen,  p.  444 ;  Rosenberg,  Nordboernes  Aandsliv, 
II,  444:  "  Love  [in  the  ballads]  is  never  pining;  with  slighted  lovers  the 
ballads  have  not  the  least  sympathy,  —  a  Schillerish  Ritter  von  Toggen- 
burg  one  would  have  found  laughable  or  stupid." 


260        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

Here  one  spoke  truths  of  a  general  nature  ("  Sorrow  is 
heavy  when  one  must  bear  it  alone  ").  In  short,  in  every- 
thing from  which  he  is  otherwise  debarred  by  the  rigorous 
epic  tone  required  of  ballad  style,  the  singer  gives  his 
voice  free  play. 

By  a  series  of  investigations  I  have  next  established  the 
influence  which  the  use  of  the  ballads  in  the  dance  has  ex- 
erted on  their  make-up,  together  with  the  influence  which 
their  preservation  by  memory  alone  must  have  exercised. 
In  addition  I  have  sought  to  make  plain  how  very  often 
in  later  times,  when  the  ballads  were  collected  and  noted 
down,  learning  and  a  new  taste  have  set  a  stamp  upon  the 
style  not  original  with  them ;  how  they  became  overlaid 
with  new  additions,  such  as,  for  instance,  Catholicism. 
Thus  it  has  come  about  that  many  rust  spots  and  much 
dust  have  been  removed,  and  thereby  are  brought  into 
clearer  light  the  incomparable  simplicity  and  freedom  from 
prejudice,  and  the  plainness  in  style  and  expression  which 
gives  this  poetry  its  greatest  worth  and  keeps  it  alive  among 
the  people,  while  so  much  of  the  poetry  of  art  has  gone 
out  of  fashion  or  has  become  unintelligible. 

Finally  one  aim  of  these  studies  has  been  to  sever  the 
connection  of  the  ballad  with  the  poetry  of  antiquity.  To 
draw  a  genealogical  tree  or  to  build  a  bridge  that  will  lead 
over  from  the  one  to  the  other  is  wholly  impossible,  for 
the  two  kinds  are  fundamentally  distinct.  The  Icelandic 
lay,  as  far  as  its  form  is  concerned,  is  constructed  on  the 
principle  of  word  accent,  while  the  ballad  verse  is  based 
on  words  in  relationship,  that  is,  on  the  sentence  or  the 
sense  accent.  The  lay  has  a  slow  movement,  a  measured 
sound,  as  if  one  had  the  swing  of  a  pendulum  before  his 


RETROSPECT  261 

eyes ;  while  the  ballad  ripples  melodiously  or  springs  along 
as  best  it  can  according  to  its  own  sweet  will.  In  the  old 
lay  the  words  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  appositives  are 
found  in  abundance ;  while  the  ballads  appear  in  no  way 
so  closely  drawn  together  and  are  by  no  means  so  chary 
of  words.  And  whereas  the  lay  permits  the  most  violent 
inversions  and  arbitrarily  shifts  the  natural  places  of  sub- 
ject, object,  and  predicate,  the  ballads  never  venture  on 
such  extraordinary  transpositions,  but  adhere  to  the  natural 
order  of  speech. 

Its  manner  of  expression  then  fits  perfectly  the  natural, 
simple  narrative,  which  is  so  far  removed  from  the  fre- 
quently weighty,  didactic  contents  of  the  lays.  The  lays 
use  alliteration  and  are  recited ;  while  the  ballads  employ 
end  rime  and  are  sung,  being  accompanied  by  the  dance, 
which  the  olden  times  knew  not  or  scarcely  at  all.  When 
in  conclusion  it  is  remembered  that  the  lays  with  their 
kennings  affect  a  difficult  language,  or  even  a  language 
that  belonged  exclusively  to  poetry ;  while  the  ballads  have 
no  need  of  such  circumlocutions  and  intellectual  pictures, 
and,  on  the  whole,  use  a  language  that  does  not  differ  from 
that  in  daily  speech  :  then  I  well  believe  that  it  may  safely 
be  asserted  that  here  we  have  before  us  two  widely  differ- 
ing species  of  poetry,  between  which  exists  scarcely  any 
spiritual  affinity.  It  is  quite  another  thing  to  say,  however, 
that  the  range  of  ideas  peculiar  to  antiquity  in  many  ways 
lives  again  in  the  poetry  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  the 
legends  and  myths  of  heathendom  can  here  appear  under 
new  guises,  and  that  even  single  expressions  and  images 
from  the  heathen  lays  bob  up  in  the  folk  poetry  of  Christian 
times. 


262         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 

With  this  I  conclude  these  attempts  to  lay  bare  the  true 
spirit  and  form  of  the  ballads.  This  book  is  now  com- 
mended to  all  those  who  yet  love  the  old,  naive  art  of 
poetry  and  take  pleasure  in  it  as  in  a  fresh  fountain  and 
cooling  shadows  on  a  sultry  day,  and  to  those  who  still 
look  upon  the  popular  ballads  as  one  of  the  unique  and 
most  valued  treasures  of  our  literature. 


INDEX  TO   BALLADS 

The  figures  in  parentheses  give  the  numbers  of  the  ballads  in  Svend  Grundtvig's 
collection,  Danmarks  gamle  Folkeviser 


Agnete  and  the   Merman,    (38), 

97  ff.,  223 
Axel  and  Valborg,  (475),  210,  213, 

215 

Bald  Monk,  The,  (15),  119,  120 
Ballad  of  Envy,  The,  (366),  22  ff. 
Ballad  of  Isaac,  The,  21 
Ballad  of  Susanna,  The,  21 
Bedeblak,  (63),  161 
Betrothed  in  the  Grave,  The,  (90), 

31,  129,  167,  188,  190,  229 
Bold  Sir  Nilaus'  Reward,  (270),  51 
Boyhood  of  Jesus,  Stephan,  and 

Herod,  The,  (96),  99,  100 
Bridal,  The,  (88),  177 
Burd   Ellensborg    and    Sir   Oluf, 

(303),  200 
Buried  Mother,  The,  (89),  188,  220 

Child  Jacob,  (253),  96 

Cloister  Maiden,The,  (Grundtvig's 

Heroic  Ballads,  No.  20),  63,  223 
Cloister  Robbery,  The,  (476),  41, 

210,  215 
Combat  with  the  Worm,  The,  (24), 

47 
Companion's  Grief,  The,  (273),  51 

Dalby  Bear,  The,  (64),  180 
Dalebu  Jonsen,  (Landstad,  No.  24), 

90 
Dangerous    Maiden,    The,    (184), 

231 

Daniel  Boson,  (421),  90 
Death   of   Alf  the   Lesser,   The, 

(151),  226 


263 


Defeat  in  Ditmarsh,  The,  (170), 
122 

Dialogue  of  Two  Maidens,  (Un- 
published No.  291),  97 

Duke  Henry,  (334),  130 

Elfen  Hill,  The,  (46),  62,  74 

Fair  Annie,  (258),  113  ff. 
Faithless  Bride,  The  (Kristensen), 

172,  199 

Find  Lille,  (123),  44 
Flores  and  Margeret,  (86),  40,  210, 

211  ff.,  215 

Folke  Algotson,  (180),  55,  256 
Forced  Consent,  The,  (75),  28,  46 

Game  at  Dice,  The,  (238),   173, 

i8iff. 
German  Gladensvend,  (33),  44,  71, 

'39 

Gralver  the  King's  Son,  (29),  89 
Grimild's    Revenge,    (5),    101   ff., 
133.  134 

Hagbard  and  Signe,  (20),  221,  231, 

253 

Hagen's  Dance,  (465),  13,  26,  130 
Hedeby's  Ghost,  (91),  59 
Henry  of  Brunswick,  (114),  120, 

121,  125 

Hildebrand  and  Hilde,  (83),  49,  93 
Holger  Dansk  and  Burmand,  (30), 

210,  253 

In  Chastity  and  Honor,  (225),  201 
Iron  Wolf,  (10),  162,  233 


264        THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 


Karl  and  Margrete,  (87),  210,  216, 

229 
King   Apollonius   of   Tyre,    (88), 

210,  214 
King  Birger's  Sister  Bengta,  (155), 

30,  43,  255 
King    Christian    II    in    Sweden, 

(172),  41,  192 
King  Didrik  and  his  Warriors,  (7), 

160 
King  Didrik  and  Holger  Dansk, 

(17).  210 
King  Didrik  and  the   Lion,   (9), 

106 
King  Didrik  in  Birtingsland,  (8), 

29 
King  Hakon's  Death,  (142),  31, 

48 
King  Hans'  Wedding,  (166),  21, 

154 

Kinsman's  Revenge,  The,  (4),  217 
Knight  Transformed  into  a  Bird, 

The,  (68),  44 
Knight  Transformed  into  a  Hart 

The,  (67),  33,  253 
Knud  of  Borg,  (195),  42 

Linden  on  Lindenberg,  The,  (205), 

195 

Lindworm,  The,  (65),  185 
Little  Karen,  (101),  118,  128 
Lombards,  The,  (21),  70 

Magnus  Algotson,  (181),  202,  222 
Maiden  at  the  Thing,  The,  (222), 

203 
Maiden  in  the  Linden,  The,  (66), 

184 
Maiden  in  the  Woods,  The,  (416), 

173 
Maiden  transformed  into  a  Bird, 

The,  (56),  53,  175,  203 
Maiden  transformed  into  a  Hind, 

The,  (58),  50 
Maiden  transformed  into  a  Wolf, 

The,  (55),  50 
Maiden's  Defense  of  Honor,  The, 

(189),  13 
Maiden's   Morning  Dream,  The, 

(239).  54.  196 


Maiden's  Punishment,  The,  (464), 

63 

Malfred  and   Magnus,   (49),   162, 

210,  211,  212,  214,  215 
Marsk  Stig,  (145),  76,  77,  84,  225, 

238,  253 
Marsk  Stig's  Daughters,  (146),  31, 

94,  203 
Meeting  in  the  Wood,  The,  (284), 

55.96 
Meeting   of   Kings   in   Roskilde, 

The,  (118),  239 
Memering,  (14),  92 
Mermaid's  Prophecy,  (42),  90,  135 
Mettelil  and  Queen  Sofie,  (130), 

'51 

Murdered  Housewif  e,The,  ( 1 1  o)  ,96 

Niels   Ebbeson,   (156),   123,    151, 

202,  218,  227,  238,  256 
Niels  Paaskeson  and  Lave  Brok, 

(164),  48 
Nightingale,  The,  (57),  61,  in  ff. 

Olaf  and  Asser  White,  (202),  45 
Oluf  Gudmundsbn,  (Unpublished 
No.  306),  210,  215 

Peder  and  Malfred,  (278),  19,  95 
Peder     Gudmandson     and     the 

Dwarfs,  (35),  72,  73,  76 
Poacher,  The,  48 
Proud  Elin's  Revenge,  (209),  45, 

130,  167,  195 

Proud  Ellensborg,  (218),  201 
Proud  Elselille,  (220),  12 
Proud  Signild  and  Queen  Sophie, 

(129),  18,  31 

Queen  Dagmar's  Ballad,  (135),  70 
Queen  Margrete,  (Vedel),  109 

Rane  Jensen's  Marriage,  (48),  90 
Rape  of  the  Venedian  King,  The, 

(240),  19 
Redselille  and  Medelvold,  (271), 

51,84 

Regin  the  Smith,  75 
Riboltand  Guldborg,  (82),  49,  118, 

204,  217 


INDEX  TO  BALLADS 


265 


Sacrilege,  The,  (112),  199 

St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  (103), 

122 

St.  Gertrude,  (93),  188 
Series  of  Kings,  The,  (115),  104 
Sir  Bugge's  Death,  (158),  43,  161, 

202 

Sir  Ebbe's  Daughter,  (194),  219 
Sir  Lave  and  Sir  Jon,  (390),  91 
Sir  Sallemand  (Abrahamson,  No. 

153),  96,  214 
Sir  Stig's  Wedding,  (76),  13,  43, 

44 
Sir  Tyge  Krabbe's  Fight  in  Skaane, 

(171),  220 

Sivard  and  Brynild,  (3),  129 
Sivard  Snarensvend,  (2),  69,  70 
Skipper  and  the  Maid,  The,  (241) 

21 

Soborg  and  Adelkind,  (266),  217 
Son's  Sorrow,  The,  (272),  51,  56 
Soul  at  Heaven's  Door,  The,  ( 106), 

144  ff. 
Sune  Folkeson,  (138),  141,  148  ff., 

256 
Svend  Felding,  (31),  126,  205  ff. 


Svend  Felding  and  Queen  Jutte, 

(32),  154,  208 
Svend  Vonved,  (18),  38,  152 

Terkel  Trundeson,  (480),  210,  216 
Test  of  Fidelity,  The,  (252),  198 
Thor  of  Havsgaard,  (i),  67 
Trold   and  the   Housewife,  The, 

(52),  155,  185,  191 
True  as  Gold,  (254),  53,  116 

Valraven,  The,  (60),  29,  163,  186, 
187 

Wager,  The,  (224),  200 
Water  of  Life,  The,  (94),  185 
Wounded  Maiden,  The,  (244),  21 

Young    Man's    Complaint,    The, 

(53).  60 

Young  Ranild,  (28),  89 
Young  Sir  Thor  and  Lady  Thore, 

(72),  143 

Young  Sveidal,  (70),  228 
Youth  of  Vollerslov,  The,  (298), 

197 


SCANDINAVIAN    BALLAD   COLLEC- 
TIONS CITED   IN  THE  TEXT 

A.  S.  VEDEL.   //  Hundreds  vduaalde  danske  Viser.    1591. 

ABRAHAMSON,  NYERUP,  and  RAHBEK.  Udvalgte  danske  Viser 
fra  Middelalderen ,  I  -  V .  1812-1814.  Usually  cited  as  Abr . 

SVEND  GRUNDTVIG.  Danmarks  gamle  Folkeviser  (completed  by 
AxelOlrik),  I-VIII.  1853-1899.  Danske  Kcempevtser  og  Folkesange 
fra  Middelalderen,  fornyede  i  gammel  Stil.  1867.  Danmarks 
Folkeviser  i  Udvalg.  1882. 

EVALD  TANG  KRISTENSEN.  Jydske  Folkeviser  og  Toner,  samlede 
af  Folkemunde.  1871.  Gamle  jyske  Folkeviser.  1876.  100  gamle 
jyske  Folkeviser.  1 889.  The  three  collections  are  referred  to  in  the 
text  as  Kristensen,  I,  II,  III. 

H.  C.  LYNGBYE.  Fceroiske  Qvceder  om  Sigurd  Fofnersbane  og 
hans  sEt.  1822. 

V.  U.  HAMMERSHAIMB.  Fceroiske  Kvceder,  I-II.  1851-1855. 
Fcerosk  Anthologi,  1-4  parts.  1886-1889. 

SVEND  GRUNDTVIG  and  JON  SIGURSSSON.  Islenzk  Fornkvadi, 
I-II.  1854-1885. 

M.  B.  LANDSTAD.   Norske  Folkeviser.    1853. 

SOPHUS  BUGGE.    Gamle  norske  Folkeviser.    1858. 

A.  I.  ARWIDSSON.   Svenska  Fornsangor,  I-III.    1834-1842. 

E.  G.  GEIJER  and  A.  A.  AFZELIUS.  Svenska  Folkvisor.  New, 
much  enlarged  edition,  edited  by  R.  Bergstrom  and  L.  Hoijer.  1880. 


266 


INDEX 


Aabenraa,  147 

Abrahamson,  200 

Agerhus  Castle,  inventory  of,  109 

Alliteration,  138  ff.,  141  ff. 

"  Alvissmal,"  38,  231 

Ambroise,  244 

Annals,  Ryd  Kloster's,  209 

Arthur's  Chase,  15 

Arwidsson,  61 

Assonance,  139*?.,  159 

Atlikvifra,  194 

Aventiure,  230 

"  Backbiter,"  the,  235 

"  Ballad  Book  "  of  Broms  Gyllen- 
mars,  235 

Ballad  style,  216 

Ballads,  abstractions  in,  234; 
accompanied  by  the  drum,  25 ; 
and  the  dance,  9  ff. ;  "  birdskin," 
175;  broadside,  120,  146,  150; 
Catholicism  in,  146,  178  ff.,  207  ; 
change  in  character  of,  258, 
259;  Christianity  in,  193;  Den- 
mark's store  of,  6 ;  dramatic 
structure  of,  228  ff. ;  fairy  hil- 
lock, 61  ;  history  in,  237  ff. ; 
/  in,  34  ff. ;  introductions  to,  32, 
40  ff.,  228  ff. ;  inversions  in, 
216 ff.;  kennings  in,  233,  234; 
language  of,  233;  legendary, 
178;  lyrical  elements  in,  34,  35, 
62 ;  magic  in,  188 ;  manner  of 
singing,  93  ff. ;  melodies,  163  ff. ; 
meter  of,  125  ff.;  miracles  in, 
181,  185,  187 ;  monologue  in, 
49 ff.;  moralizing  in,  198  ff.; 
nature  in,  1 7 1  ff . ;  patriotism  in, 
202  ff.,  259;  proverbs  in,  225 ff.; 
records  of,  6,  7,  255,  256;  re- 
ligion in,  i78ff.,  191;  romance 
in,  210 ff.;  satirical,  22;  street, 
247  ;  supernatural  in,  181 


Battle  of  Brunkebjerg,  122 

Bayeux  Tapestry,  230 

Benoit,  244 

Berggreen,  166 

Bergstrbm,  R.,  118,  215 

Bistev,  135 

"  Book  of  Ballads,"  Anna  Urop's, 

61,  199 
"Book   of  a   Hundred  Ballads," 

Vedel's,  71 
Bugge,  Sophus,  59,  101,  118,  147, 

153 

"  Chronicle,"    Svend    Aageson's, 

239 
"  Chronik   des    Landes  Dithmar- 

schen,"  n,  93 
Clavus,  Claudius,  254 
"Cyprianus,"  188 

Dance,  the,  and  the  ballad,  9 ; 
accompaniments  to,  25,  29 ; 
beginning  of,  27  ff. ;  frescoes 
of,  14;  in  couples,  n;  in  the 
Faroes,  20;  in  Germany,  165; 
in  Oberpfalz,  165,  166;  in  the 
open  air,  i2ff. ;  kissing  in,  19; 
of  the  nobility,  17;  picture  of 
Salome  in,  16;  with  objects  in 
the  hand,  13,  46 

Didrik  Saga,  25,  101,  102 

Dietrich  of  Bern,  136 

Earl  Gissur,  10 

Edda,  the  Elder,  52 

Efterstev,  135 

England,  historical  ballads  of,  245 

Erotic  poetry,  39 

Erslev,  Professor  Karl,  237,  240 

Faroes,  the,  ballads  of,  7,  162 
Finnish  runic  songs,  78,  79 
"  Fjolsvinnsmal,"  38 


267 


268         THE  MEDIEVAL  POPULAR  BALLAD 


Flensborg,  105 

Foresinger,  27,  93 

Fomyrdalag,  147 

France,  historical  poetry  of,  244 

Frey,  100 

Geijer,  87,  95 

Germany,  borrowings  from,  97, 
102  ff.,  H4ff.,  117,  n8ff.,  136, 
J75>  X76;  heroic  ballads  of,  37  ; 
historical  ballads  of,  243  ff. ; 
medieval  folksongs  of,  35  ff. 

"  Gertrude's  Book,"  188 

Goethe,  38 

Gragas,  249 

Greek  modes,  164 

Grimm,  Wilhelm,  86 

Grb'nland,  Peder,  93 

Grundtvig,  Svend,  i,  61,  64,  90,  97, 
98,  in,  112,  113,  116,  118,  121, 
122,  135,  146,  153, 159,  180,  181, 
182,  187,  198,  199,  207,  209,217, 
218,  219,  220 

Guild,  statutes  of  a,  14 

"  GutSrunarhvot,"  52,  194 

Haasz,  the  valet,  250 

Hansen,  Professor  Peter,  3,  223 

Harald  Hardrada,  242 

Heiberg,  189 

Heidrek's  saga,  38 

"  Heldenbuch,"  101 

Hervor's  saga,  38 

Hoijer,  L.,  118 

Holger  Dansk,  210 

Hoppelrei,  15 

Hovcdstev,  135 

Iceland,  ballads  of,  7,  8,  162,  173 ; 
lays  of,  241,  260,  261  ;  riddle 
poems  of,  38 ;  satirical  ballads 
of,  130 

"  Illustrated  History  of  Danish 
Literature,"  Professor  Han- 
sen's,  3 

Indstev,  135 

Ingemann,  56 

Johannes,  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  250 
Jongleurs,  25 


Jorgensen,  A.  D.,  237,  240,  241, 
246,  247 

Kabeljaus  and  Hoeks,  250 
Kalkar's  Dictionary,  105,  106,  107, 

109 

"  Karrig  Hiding,"  18 
King  Canute  the  Great,  153 
King  Christian  I,  209 
King  Christian  IX,  240 
King  Haakon  of  Norway,  240 
Kok,  Laurids,  158 
Kristensen,  E.  T.,  61,  164,  232 
Kvifruhdtt,  136,  137,  138 

Laale,  Peder,  26,  227 

Laffler,  Professor  L.  Fr.,  65 

Laub,  Thomas,  164 

"  Lay  of  Gudrun,"  52 

"  Le     Bourgeois    Gentilhomme," 

157 

"Liden  Gunver,"  168 
Liliencron,  Von,  243,  250,  251 
"  Literary   History   of    Sweden," 

Henrik  Schiick's,  204 
Little  Karen  strophe,  128,  133 
"  Lucidarius,"  107 
Lykke-Dans,  19 
Lyngbye,  Pastor,  75 

Magni,  Archbishop  Johannes,  26 
Manuscripts  of  ballads,  Anna 
Basse's,  60;  Countess  Chris- 
tiane's,  149;  Dorothea  Thott's, 
195 ;  Karen  Brahe's,  43,  45,  46, 
85,  113,  121,  148,  196,  200; 
Langebek's  Quarto,  114,  149; 
Magdalena  Barnewitz's,  44 ; 
RentzePs  148;  Sophie  Sand- 
berg's,  204 ;  Sten  Bille's,  74, 
113;  Sten  Miller's,  43 ;  Svan- 
ing's,  136 
Minnesongs,  236 

"  Name  him  to  death,"  49 

Neocorus,  n,  93 

"  Nibelungenlied,"  102,  103,  221; 

verse  of,  103,  no,  128,  131  ff. 
Nibelungs,  ballad  on,  101  ff. 
Nithart,  85 


INDEX 


269 


"Oddninargratr,"  52 

Ohlenschlager,  131,  132,  158,  213 

Olrik,  Axel,  96 

Olsen,  Master  Erik,  253 

"  Om  Kirkesangen,"  164 

Palladius,  Peter,  178 

Paris,  Gaston,  245,  257 

"  Peder  Paars,"  214 

"  Persenober       and       Constanti- 

anobis,"  75 

Petersen,  N.  M.,  135,  136 
Petri,  Laurentius,  253 
Philip  the  Good,  250 
"  Players,"  the,  25,  26,  68 
Plovpenning,  Erik,  209 
Podiebrad,  Georg,  250 
Pontoppidan,  Erik,  99 
Proverbs,  151,  225 

Recke,  Ernst  von  der,  125,  126, 

132,  133,  136,  138,  142,  156 
Refrains,  29,  31,  81  ff.,  159,  172; 

alliteration  in,  159,  160,  162; 
German,  84,  92 ;  in  the  text, 
92;  nature  of,  82  ff.,  259;  pri- 
mary and  secondary,  135 ;  sub- 
jectivity in,  87 ;  variable,  88  ff. 

Rhythm,  i25ff. 

Rime,  125  ff. 

"  Rimed  Chronicle,"  56 

Romances,  75 

Rosenberg,  Carl,  3,  125,  126,  130, 

133.  135.  137 
Ruus,  Laurids,  27 

St.  Sigfred's  legend,  205 


St.  Stephen  ballads,  99,  100 
Satire,     in     Iceland,    249;     laws 

against,  250 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  254 
"  Schnada-hiipfl,"  22 
"Sir  Ro  and   Sir  Rap,"  Bagge- 

sen's,  88 

Skaane  Laws,  65,  254 
Skrikke-Rei,  15 
Snorri,  241 

"  Song  of  Sigurd,"  33 
"  Stadsret,"  105 
Stolt,  Jonas,  13 
Storm,  Gustav,  147,  210,  242 
"  Sturlunga  Saga,"  130 
'"Svend  Dyring's  Hus,"  189 
Syv,  Peder,  4,  30,  100,  118,  151, 

186,  200,  217 

Tagelieder,  36 
Talvj,  42,  246 
"  Town  Laws,"  Magnus  Smek's, 

204 

"Tragica,"  Vedel's,  177 
"  Trymmekendans,"  1 1 

"  Vaf>rudnismal,"  38 

Vedel,   Anders,   4,  67,   104,   136, 

151,  176,  196,  217,  221,  226,227 
"  Vie  de  Guillaume  le  Marechal," 

245 

Vikivaki,  17 
"  Visitation  Book,"  178 
"Voluspa,"  136 

Wace,  244 
Wdchterlieder,  36 


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